could you please tell me what is the youngest age you can use a cock for breeding.
Well, just say that if you do not take the 4 mos bantam cockerel away from the hens, you will likely have some fertile eggs, whether you want it or not! It is not recommended to start a bantam cockerel of the light breeds before 6-8 months and older may be better, but I don't really know why?? I sometimes use a 6 mos. cockerel to do a test breeding and very small hatch. CJR
When you see them mounting hens and successfully mating.
At what age do the cockerels have motile sperm?
The earliest that I have seen is 8 weeks for a Leghorn. Leghorns are reproduction machines. Larger breeds take longer to mature.
By Cjeanr on Saturday, December 8, 2001 - 11:26 pm:
By Rokimoto on Sunday, December 9, 2001 - 12:09 pm:
Each line is different. In my experience the pullets will begin to lay before the cockerals have their act together. Hens will begin to lay at around 5 months of age, but some cockerals don't figure out what to do until they are 7 or 8 months old.
Observation of young cockerals is the only way that you can be pretty sure that you will be getting fertile eggs from the mating. They will produce semen at a very young age, but the mating behavior lags behind the reproductive biology. Leghorn males are producing viable semen at around 14 weeks of age, but they won't be mating with hens for a couple of months.
By Anonymous on Monday, December 10, 2001 - 12:55 am:
This could be important in a breeding program
based on AI.
By Rokimoto on Monday, December 10, 2001 - 02:42 pm:
You'd be hard pressed to get enough semen out of an 8 week old cockeral for breeding. These birds would only be around 500 grams (1 lb) and not fully feathered. I don't know when semen quality peaks. I bet that you could get enough semen at around 18 to 20 weeks for AI.