How Do Roosters Mate With Hens?

If you have a few hens and are considering getting a rooster. You may start to wonder how roosters mate with hens.

I currently have six hens and one rooster, so I have seen this process close up many times.

My observation is that the mating process of a rooster and hen is quick. The process lasts for only a few seconds at a time. So how do chickens mate?

You don’t need a rooster for hens to lay eggs, but they are helpful for protecting the flock. Roosters can even point out food and good egg-laying spots to hens. Observing the mating ritual of chickens is an interesting site.

If you have young children, they may think the rooster is hurting the hen when mounting her for mating as my young daughter did at first.

During the mating ritual, you will often time see the rooster prancing around and clucking before mounting the hen and beginning the mating process.

So how do roosters and hens mate?

A rooster mounts the hen grabbing the feathers of her neck with his beak. While standing on the hen’s back, the rooster will lower his cloaca to meet with the hens. As the two cloacae meet, the rooster ejaculates the sperm package into the hen’s vagina via the cloaca.

During copulation, the hen will invert her vagina, helping transfer the semen into her oviduct. There is no penetration during the mating process.

The cloaca of a hen is found at the base of the tail under her feathers. It is the single posterior opening for the chicken’s reproductive, digestive, and urinary tracts. She will intake sperm from this opening, expel feces and lay eggs.

You can see a rooster mating with one of my hens in the video below.

How often do chickens mate?

According to the University of Georgia, a rooster will mate with hens anywhere from 10 to 30 or more times per day. This will depend on the availability of hens and competition from other roosters.

Rooster mating behavior

A rooster will start the mating process by exhibiting courtship behavior. The rooster will start dancing in a circle and drop one of his wings. Once the rooster sees the hen is receptive, he will mount the hen staring the mating process.

Hen mating behavior

A hen will show receptiveness to a rooster by crouching down while dipping her head and body allowing the male to mount her.

Do roosters have balls?

A male chicken is also known as a rooster has testicles but no external scrotum. They produce the sperm necessary for fertilizing eggs. From the outside, these testicles can’t be seen because they’re hidden internally.

The two bean-shaped testes are located high in the abdominal cavity near the backbone in front of the kidney. Sperm are produced in the lining of these ducts. During active mating, the testes shrink during days with less light and grow regularly when daylight hours increase.

The testes do more than produce sperm. They also produce the hormones that influence mating, male behavior, the size of the tail feathers, the spurs on the insides of their feet, and the red wattles beneath their chins.  

Will a rooster mate with all hens?

Yes, a rooster will mate with all the hens. Even if the rooster is a different breed or size. A rooster can usually mate with 8-10 hens comfortably.

Do chickens have to mate to lay eggs?

Chickens do not need to mate to lay eggs. Hens will lay eggs whether a rooster is around or not. A hen only needs a rooster if you want the eggs to be fertilized to hatch baby chicks.

When do roosters start mating?

Young roosters known as cockerels will reach sexual maturity between 4 and 5 months old. At this age, the rooster begins producing sperm.

Roosters remain fertile for several years but as they age the quality of sperm the rooster produces starts to decrease.

Do chickens mate for life?

Chickens are polygamous and do not mate for life. This is the opposite of certain species of birds such as Swans that do mate for life.

How do roosters fertilize chicken eggs?

A hen and rooster must mate before the egg is formed. If the rooster and hen have mated, and she lays an egg afterward the egg should be fertilized.

How many eggs does a rooster fertilize at one time?

Sperm can remain viable in a hen’s sperm storage tubules (SST) for up to two weeks. A single copulation of hen and rooster could produce up to 14 fertilized eggs over this two-week period.

This of course assumes the hen is laying one egg each day.

Are the eggs we eat fertilized?

If you are buying eggs from a grocery store they are not usually fertilized. Hens do not need roosters to lay eggs so commercial chicken farms don’t keep roosters around the egg-laying hens.

Without roosters nearby a hen can not mate and have her eggs fertilized.

Hens only need the right nutrients to lay unfertilized eggs.

After I started feeding my hens pellets they stopped laying eggs.

I decided to switch back to crumbles they started laying eggs again.

How can you tell if an egg is fertilized?

When you look at a fertilized egg yolk the white circle will be more defined when compared to an unfertilized egg yolk.

Is it safe to eat fertilized eggs?

Yes, it is safe to eat fertilized eggs. Because your eggs are stored in the refrigerator the embryo ceases all development. 

However, if you leave an egg in the chicken coop for weeks then you will not want to eat what you find. This is because after cracking open a fertilized egg you may find a developed embryo.

When raising hens for eggs it is important to go to the coop each day and collect and eggs you find to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Are fertilized eggs better for you to eat?

There is no scientific evidence that suggests fertilized eggs are healthier to eat than unfertilized eggs. This is simply a myth passed around in some circles.

How long does a hen stay fertile after the rooster?

Generally, a hen will stay fertile after mating with a rooster for 10 to 14 days.

Do roosters lay eggs?

No, roosters do not lay eggs. Roosters are reared for flock protection and egg fertilization, not egglaying. Without roosters, hens cannot lay fertile eggs, and eggs laid without roosters around cannot be hatched.

Conclusion

Hens do not need to mate every date to remain fertile as mentioned previously they can store sperm for up to 14 days. 

If you live in a suburban area you should probably avoid having a rooster! You don’t need one to have hens lay fresh eggs every day.

Roosters can get very loud and many local town ordinances don’t allow them!

However, if you really want baby chicks that you can watch hatch from an egg then you will of course need a rooster.

Hopefully, I was able to shed some light on how roosters mate with hens.