Rooster mating ritual?

HI,
I am new to chickens and I have posted here before showed photos of my movable coops. Got great idea from all of you. Now I have this question. What is the ritual of a rooster and a hen..I have 2 Jearsy Black roosters and 4 Jearsy hens. One Jearsy black rooster has to be kept separate as I feel he is very aggressive, he runs at the hens and peaks them I do not see him try to mate with them just chase and peck. My other Jearsy rooster is not aggressive well until today. Then I have a very beautiful Bantim rooster who I have not seen boo behavior out of other then a little skittish. The other two rooster are all in the same flock and we kept in the same movable coop in side and out and did fine. Well yesterday I let my first flock out with my Bantin rooster and the Jearsy rooster and even tride to let my aggressive one out that did not go well. Caught the aggressive one and put him back in the movable coop. My hens and the two rooster had a great time outside it was nice to see them roam and dust bath and just walk around. So today I decided to let my other HNS hens out of their coop to join the rest They are the HNS 4 of them,. Well that is when the Bantim rooster went all nuts on me. He started in on them pretty quick with pecking and mounting BUT not near as bad as my one caged Jearsy black rooster. Now a few of the newly introduced hens pecked back but one of them came a running for me and let me pick her up.NOW the other Jersy black rooster who I had never seen anything out of is joining in.
Why are they focusing on these 4 new hens when they had 4 hens of their own that I have never seen them mount or peck.?
I did not want any rooster but I know it is hard to sex them. I really like my what I call aggressive one he has such personality he likes to follow me when I do my chores when I allowed him out and the others to stay in he would peck the back of my leg if he was not getting his mealy worms fast enough and he would talk to me when I came around. He would chase the dog who likes to play with him he never got aggressive with the dog ,he leaves the cat alone and for the most part leaves my employess alone. I would hate to get rid of him but was told more then one is not good. My bantam is beautiful I love him.
We will be building a very large coop with a wrap around porch and very large outside run for winter. It will have electicity and a area for the hens and a area for me to hang with them and plenty of room for my cleaning supplies and storage of food for them.
I was so close to getting ride of my 2 black rooters but now I am not sure I read they protect the herd I do not want to take that away from my hens.. But I also read they can fight to the death. I have not seen the aggressive rooster go after the other Jeasy black rooster or the Bantam rooster. AND if they are mating now when do they start to lay eggs? I would not mind babies chickens so how do I handle that I pretty sure I got non brooding chickens? I got the majority of chickens in March of this year.
Any advice or ideas of reading would be great. Sorry so long.
Thanks Cj
Here is my handsome fella. Whom I think is aggressive

To answer all your Q's
1) multiple Roos is fine if you have enough hens and they don't hate each other. Some fighting is normal, but if they are raised together I highly doubt they will fight much. Roosters barely fight to the death, that only happens in sever over crowding or in the extremely aggressive breeds
2) the roosters mating don't mean eggs quite yet. If the hen is submissive then yes eggs may come soon,
3) roosters mating can take a while. If the hens aren't submissive they get all frustrated. I don't believe your roo is being aggressive, he just can't figure out why the girls won't let him mate. So long as they aren't bleeding or getting pecked in the eye it's fine,
4) how many hens do you have? 3 Roos is a lot, ESP. If you have 2 jersey giants, I'd want to roo to hen ratio be about 1:7 min.
5) as for chicks, the hens won't auto go broody if there's a clutch of eggs, but some might go broody for no reason. No such thing as a 'non brooding' breed just some breeds are more likely then others
6) you can get an incubator then set eggs in there, research how to hatch eggs first though.
7) how old are your hens? If they're around 20 weeks (5 months) and/or have large red combs (the hens) and are submissive to the Roos then they are soon to laying eggs
Best of luck

I have 8 hens they are about 4 months. Their combs are not that big. Now my one rooster whom I think is aggressive has a large comb and large things that hang down off his chin. ( do not know what those are called) My hens do not seem to allow the mating just yet. I just see them running away all the time. Right now only 2 roosters are out not the one in the photo the other Jearsy Black which is not as mature as the other one and then the Bantim. so they are out with 8 hens. I keep both coop doors open so they can go in and perch if they want to on their tree limbs we put up for them. We do not have nesting boxes yet. My other rooster is in the movable coop in the fenced in run for now he has been for 2 days. I am afraid he will go a bit crazy in there. He just walks back an forth watching for the hens. Some of the Jeasry hens come up to the fence to see him. He sleeps in there also as I do not want a critter to get to him.
Thanks for the answers that is great help. I wonder if I should get rid of one rooster. Maybe the non aggressive one as I read u want a aggressive one ( well not one that hurts people) but one that protects the herd. What do u think?
CJ


Not sure what kind these are as I got a mix at the time.

First, I always recommend you keep as few roosters as you can and still meet your goals, whatever they may be. It’s not that you are guaranteed to have problems with multiple roosters, just that you are less likely to have problems with fewer roosters. With what I think you have, I’d suggest either fewer roosters or more hens.

I suggest you read my post #4 in this thread. I think it will help you understand some of what is going on and what to expect.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/799298/how-can-i-stop-lavender-cockrel-from-attacking-my-hens

But you have more questions. I’ll admit I never did figure out how many hens and roosters you have, their age, and how long they’ve known each other so I’ll do some guessing. I think the majority of your chickens are somewhere around 14 to 15 weeks old. Not sure about the 4 new hens age. It sounds like those young cockerels have never seen them before?

At that age they are adolescents with hormones out of control. They are probably all getting some sexual urges, especially the males, but they are also getting flock dominance and pecking order urges, strong urges. They’re sorting out the social order of the flock. That will continue until they mature enough to become stable.

Why are they attacking the new hens? A lot of the pecking order-social dominance issues have been settled with the “old” pullets. They need to sort that out with the new ones. Don’t be shocked to see some skirmishes between the pullets too.

Some roosters have been bred to fight to the death, the ones used for cock fighting. Most have not. Roosters will often fight to determine flock dominance. Usually this is not a fight to the death. But it is certainly possible. Usually it involves a skirmish, sometimes a pretty serious skirmish, and becomes running away and chasing when one decides he is not winning. An important part of this being a skirmish and not a fight to the death is that the loser needs room to run away. If he does not have room to run away the winner may kill the loser because he doesn’t realize the fight is over.

The mating ritual is not just about sex and fertilizing the eggs. It’s about dominance too, especially at that age. It’s an indication they might be ready to start laying soon if they willingly squat for a rooster, but I’ve seen pullets willingly squat for a cockerel about 6 weeks before they started laying. They were accepting his dominance, not looking to get their eggs fertilized. It’s a good sign but not a guarantee.

I’ve had pullets start to lay at 16 weeks. I’ve had pullets start to lay at 9 months and that was in the first week of December, the shortest days of the year with no additional lights. Those were designer chickens from a breeder, not from a hatchery. I assume yours are from a hatchery? With your chickens I’d have the nests ready at 16 weeks, but I really would not expect eggs until at least 20 weeks and very possibly longer. Each one is an individual. There is no guarantee when they will start. They lay when they lay.

It’s possible that any hen can go broody, but some are a lot more likely to go broody than others. It’s genetic. Some chickens have had most of the broodiness bred out of them. These are generally the production chickens. A hen is not making money by laying eggs when they go broody in a commercial setting. She is eating food, taking up space, possibly disrupting the flock, and requires special handling if she goes broody. If you permanently remove every broody hen form a flock and never hatch her eggs, in a few generations you have a flock that does not usually go broody. A few still will, but very few with some flocks. How likely yours are to go broody depends on how broodies were treated in the parent flock. The production breeds like Rhode Island Reds are much more likely to have had the broodiness bred out of them that the decorative breeds, like Silkies or Cochin. The only way you can control hatching some eggs is to get an incubator. Other than that, it is pure luck if you have a broody or not, though with certain breeds like Silkies your odds go way up.

Thanks,
I think your right about the the ages. I kept my reciept's for them just can not find them I know I got them when it was too cold to keep them outside. I got the fist batch the Jersy's and the brown ones at TSC then next set I got just about the time they could go out but they were so young I kept them inside till they got bigger and until my 2 coop was built. Those I got from an Amish lady who breeds ISA and others I got 4 ISA ones in which I think I called them HSN in my last post sorry. I will read your site you posted thank you.
Well I have check on them several times today and after about an hour things have calmed down. The ISA hens are staying close to their coop and the others are just walking around. I do not see any more chasing going on not that it wont happen. My ISA hens did chase back but they also came running for me when they saw me. I love these chickens they are so sweet and let me hold them.
I have my more dominate rooster cooped for now. I feel bad he is unable to run free should I keep him cooped till I get rid of the other rooster? There is plenty of room for all the chickens to run away from each other just seems like he is so fast. I am pretty sure my Bantam will be ok he is very fast and fiesty!
Thanks again
CJ

I think your inexperience with chickens and flock dynamics is going to cause a great deal of grief at this point. Your set up is asking for a wreck. Immature roosters only have one thing on their mind, and that is how to mate MORE. That many roos and that few of hens, your hens will be wore ragged, literally missing feathers, bald spots on their heads and bare backs. The roos will fight, which may not be to death, but does get ugly and old, so they will have injuries and loss of feathers too. None of them will look pretty. To have three roosters, you need a large acreage, and a flock of about 30 hens.

At the bare minimum you need to get rid of 2 roosters. Definitely I would get rid of the roo that is attacking the back of your legs asap. Really, I think you would be much happier getting rid of all your roosters. Roosters take some experience, and many need to be culled. Many chicken experiences can ruined by having the wrong rooster. Really, I don't think people should have roosters until they have culled a hen. If you have roosters, you may have to cull a rooster, immediately for safety and until you are experienced enough to do that, you should not have a roo..... just my opinion.

After you have had chickens for a year or too, then try having the rooster. Hens without a rooster, are much more friendly, much more approachable. Hens with a mature roo, look to the roo for guidance, and he tends to keep the hens away from you. I myself, waited 3 years before I tried a rooster. I am glad I did. That gave me quite a bit of experience with flock dynamic, that you don't notice right away, but only after quite a bit of watching the flock of hens.

I have never understood the idea or value of keeping one bird locked up, away from the others. He/she either fits with the flock or is culled. I don't think it is good for a hen or roo to be locked away. I think it does upset them and I don't do it.

I think you are in over your head, and are apt to have some very scary fighting going on out there. I doubt very much you will have a peaceful, beautiful, friendly flock, but rather a nervous, flighty wore out flock.

Again, my advice is to get rid of all three roosters. If you are not interested in butchering them, put them on craigslist, and don't ask questions.

Mrs K

I asked the questions as I am new. I appreciate your advice but please understand I DID NOT set out to get roosters. I was told I had hens I am not an ignorant person so I knew I might end up with some roosters. As Soon as I noticed the problem I asked the questions. So as u are much more experienced then I, I appreciate your comments. I am not going to get 30 hens. I have 5 acres of land which is plenty for the flock I have. I intended to get rid of my roosters but wanted to seek out information before I did. I will not let that aggressive rooster out with the others so he can stress them out. I have been actively seeking someone to take him. Obviously I also do not want to keep a chicken away from the flock as I have introduced all of them to each other. But I will keep the more aggressive one in a coop which is movable and has room for him to roam and a inside coop to go and sit on his roost if need be.
I do not think I am way over my head .
And my set up is pretty good for being new. We have the space we have great movable coops AND we will be building a very large coop for my hens that has a very large outdoor run for when we might be away. It will have electricity and plenty of room for me to keep my feed and straw.

UPDATE
Thanks for all the advice. I found someone to take my two Jearsy Rooster today. So I will only have one bantam rooster and I will keep him no matter how inexperienced I am .. I like him he is very good looking

Glad you kept the bantam, as you can tell (6 bantie Roos!) we love ours.

Oh and Mrs. K
We have 2 roosters, 30 hens, both bantams, 1 roo who only covers 'his' hen and 3 more roosters we plan on keeping. It's 30 hens for jersey giants.
And why do I need experience butchering (which is culling) a hen prior to culling a roo? I didn't think roosters were that hard to kill.

CochinBrahmaLover said:

Glad you kept the bantam, as you can tell (6 bantie Roos!) we love ours.

Oh and Mrs. K
We have 2 roosters, 30 hens, both bantams, 1 roo who only covers 'his' hen and 3 more roosters we plan on keeping. It's 30 hens for jersey giants.
And why do I need experience butchering (which is culling) a hen prior to culling a roo? I didn't think roosters were that hard to kill.

Click to expand...

Thank you CochinBrahmaLover for your reply. My daughter picked the Bantam's and the rooster is just so handsome. He is white with dark long tail the hen is brown with black speckles.
We are enjoying our chickens especially now that we are letting them roam our property. They have such neat behaviors and I find them investigating every area they can.