How Chickens Have Sex

The rooster (male) is just about dead center in this photo. All the other birds are hens (females).

Quite by accident while out & about on the farm during an exceptionally warm winter day in February, I managed to snap off a few pictures of my birds having sex. For me, this is nothing noteworthy, the chickens have sex every day, several times a day. The difference was that this time, I was taking photos of the birds & just happened to catch the entire courting process on camera.

To the left is the rooster. His head is down because he is clucking excitability & calling to the hens to come see the juicy tidbit he has found for them. The hens to the right are heading in his direction.

First the rooster starts to cluck to the girls while excitedly picking up & dropping whatever juicy tidbit he has found or not (sometimes he pretends). He wants the girls to know (or think) he has something tasty & that they should come to him so that they can have the tasty morsel.

A Rhode Island Red hen is squatting in preparation for the White Wyandotte Rooster to mount her.

Once he has lured a hen to him, he puffs up & moves about in a way that lets the hen know he wants to breed. If the hen is responsive, she will squat down so that he may climb on her back.

The rooster is now treading the hen to breed with her. It only takes seconds.

The rooster then climbs on the hens back & grabs hold of her shoulders (the tops of her wings). This is often called treading. The hen will lift up her tail. Her body tends to be forced forward by the weight of the rooster, helping her further lift up her tail which makes breeding easier ahem faster. Many times the rooster will grab hold of the hens hackles to stabilize himself. Some roosters are much more clumsy than others. The more experienced the rooster, the less likely it is that a hen will end up with a bald patch by the end of the season. The rooster will wobble a bit then tilt his rump downward towards the hens rump in a cupping motion. Sometimes there is a little bit of a wiggle. He then hops off, often crows & struts about while the hen shakes out her ruffled feathers.The entire process takes less than a minute.

The deed is done... for now.

Once the act is complete, it is business as usual. The rooster looks out for his flock while they forage. He will repeat the process many times throughout the day with a variety of his hens, often favoring a particular hen. If you've ever wondered, now you know.

Up next, Goats Giving Birth & Birds Building Nests...

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