At what age will my light sussex chicken become a rooster?

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NorDingo

NorDingo

Hatching
Aug 26, 2016
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Hello :) My first post here at BYC.com :)

What I was wondering is at what age the ''boy will become a man''?

I just got a 15 weeks old light sussex rooster for my flock of light sussex and ISA hens. But for now he is just like my other chicks, and is showing no typical rooster behaviour. And since I really need a guard amongst my fiesty hens I was wondering if he might get more dominant fearly soon or if it is months away?
 
The ISA's are young, just started laying eggs. The Sussex hens are about 2 years.

I don't need a guard per se. But I need a rooster to prevent the hens from picking each other, and to keep a calm in the coop.

English is not my mothers tongue, so my choise of words might be off.
 
You really do not need a Rooster....If eggs are all you want a Rooster is the last thing you need. Roosters always breed hens to the point of bald backs and necks. I no longer keep a Rooster...I have dogs to keep the fox away...Your Rooster might become such a good guard he will keep you away too...My last one was a real mean bugger...Attacked me daily. The last time he did,was as I collected eggs. He came running into the coop and flew up at me. I started kicking and kicked him out the pop door, quickly closed it and he was gone in two days.
Just a heads up...Your choice to own a Rooster though.
 
Last edited:
NorDingo said:
The ISA's are young, just started laying eggs. The Sussex hens are about 2 years.

I don't need a guard per se. But I need a rooster to prevent the hens from picking each other, and to keep a calm in the coop.

English is not my mothers tongue, so my choise of words might be off.
Click to expand...
You do not need a rooster to accomplish this. You just need enough space and a stable pecking order.
 
NorDingo said:
The ISA's are young, just started laying eggs. The Sussex hens are about 2 years.

I don't need a guard per se. But I need a rooster to prevent the hens from picking each other, and to keep a calm in the coop.

English is not my mothers tongue, so my choise of words might be off.
Click to expand...
Take the Rooster back to the place you got him from.....Your hens might be over crowded if they are pecking each other or it could be they could be lacking in nutrition...Feed layer pellets and oyster shell. Cut back on treats...The rooster will not keep the flock calm....
 
chickens really said:
You really do not need a Rooster....If eggs are all you want a Rooster is the last thing you need. Roosters always breed hens to the point of bald backs and necks. I no longer keep a Rooster...I have dogs to keep the fox away...Your Rooster might become such a good guard he will keep you away too...My last one was a real mean bugger...Attacked me daily. The last time he did,was as I collected eggs. He came running into the coop and flew up at me. I started kicking and kicked him out the pop door, quickly closed it and he was gone in two days.
Just a heads up...Your choice to own a Rooster though.
Click to expand...
I respectfully disagree. Roosters do not "always breed hens to the point of bald backs and necks". This has not been my experience, anyway. Maybe because of the number of hens to roosters I keep. I don't believe in magic numbers (i.e. "Ten hens per rooster"), but it does seem the more hens you have, the less chance of bald backs you will have to deal with. There have been experienced chicken keepers here on the site that have noted that the bald backs don't appear to bother the hens as much as it does their human keepers.
chickens really said:
Take the Rooster back to the place you got him from.....Your hens might be over crowded if they are pecking each other or it could be they could be lacking in nutrition...Feed layer pellets and oyster shell. Cut back on treats...The rooster will not keep the flock calm....
Click to expand...
Again, I respectfully disagree. A good, mature rooster will break up squabbles between hens, and I have seen at least two of my roosters get between and broody hen with chicks and the other hens in the flock when I integrate them. As a matter of fact, a couple of years ago when I had a broody hatch out, when I let them back in with the rest of the flock, the hen went right out of the coop to dust bathe. The rooster "babysat" the chicks in the coop while she dusted herself. He stood right in the pop door, keeping the chicks in and the other hens away from them.

It appears that you have had some bad rooster experiences. Really - they're not all evil. As Mrs. K says, they're a crap shoot. Some are good, some are not. Right now I have two cockerels, and they have behaved themselves so far. They get out of my way, I don't have bald hens, and they are beginning to show some flock leadership. If they continue on their current path, they may both live through the winter.
 
junebuggena said:
Quote: Agrees with jb.

@NorDingo Your cockerel (not a cock/rooster until one year of age) is still just a chick, but he's close to sexual maturity and you may see him trying to mate soon.
How that works out may cause even more chaos....but the older girls should keep him in line and teach him some manners.
The older girls are probably picking on the younger girls because that's what chicken do. That may calm down regardless of the cockerel once the youngers are all laying.
But there will always be some pecking....with enough space it shouldn't be a problem.
Click to expand...
 
One does not get great things out of a rooster until he is nearly a year old in my experience. A lot of roosters are so rotten they do not get to live that long. Some roosters will develop a bit earlier, but they usually develop an interest in sexual behavior long before they become flock leaders. If you are new to chickens, I suggest just hens, roosters in my opinion need experience. However, roosters are a crap shoot, and some do turn out very nice.

But for flock management, they need to be MUCH older, nearly a year, I think, at least with the dual purpose breeds.

Mrs K
 

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