When is a rooster "mature"? How much time between crowing and mating?

[chicklets81]

This is my 1st year having a standard size rooster. I hatched my own, so I have quite a few. I have 2 roosters starting to crow(one is 8 weeks old, and only crows in morning, another is 14 weeks old, and only crows in afternoon), but I wondered what the time frame between crowing and being ready to "mate" is?

 

[centrarchid]

Six months some can cover a hen successfully. Better to wait until 9 months. Full maturation I do not see until 18 months or second fall season of life.

 

[chickens really]

My Brahma Rooster was sexually mature at 9 months ...Fertile eggs hatched at Christmas....
Been hatching ever since.....

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Six months some can cover a hen successfully. Better to wait until 9 months. Full maturation I do not see until 18 months or second fall season of life.

I'll second that. Another way to view it is when your rooster has completed his first adult molt.

 

[aart]

This is my 1st year having a standard size rooster. I hatched my own, so I have quite a few. I have 2 roosters starting to crow(one is 8 weeks old, and only crows in morning, another is 14 weeks old, and only crows in afternoon), but I wondered what the time frame between crowing and being ready to "mate" is?

They'll start trying to mate at about 4 months old.
None of the girls(young or old) will like it nor likely allow it.
Could be chaotic, pullets can be injured.
By 6 months they could inseminate a laying pullet/hen.

Hatching pullet eggs is not advisable, it is possible but could have incubation problems and any chicks that do hatch will be smaller and may be less hardy...
...or they could eventually catch up in size and do just fine.

FYI.....semantics, maybe, but can be important communication terms when discussing chicken behavior.
Female chickens are called pullets until one year of age, then they are called hens.
Male chickens are called cockerels until one year of age, then they are called cocks(or cockbirds or roosters).

 

[Ridgerunner]

There is no correlation between crowing and mating. I haven't seen it myself but some people on here have reported chicks 2 weeks old trying to crow. Several of us have seen them wait until well into puberty before they start.

There is no set age for when a cockerel will be able to successfully mate with a pullet or mature hen. It's extremely rare but I've had a 5 month old cockerel be able to mate with every hen in a flock of mature hens and pullets with no mature rooster in the flock. I've seen a cockerel wait until 11 months before all the mature hens would accept him. By successfully mate I mean the eggs are fertile.

I didn't see any other questions, but the best way to determine if the eggs are fertile is to crack the eggs and look for the bull's eye. A lot of times I don't see the cockerels or roosters mating but when I crack the eggs they are fertile. When I incubate them, they hatch.