"Cheating" Hens

[Jessica Spaw]

I'm new to raising chickens and have learned a lot from this site. I noticed the past few days that a couple of our hens (not the alpha) seem interested in a couple of the other roosters we have (also not alphas). We hatched some eggs and got 1 hen and about 7 roosters and 1 hen!! the roosters are REALLY coming of age and were terrorizing the hens. I know we MUST get rid of them. But in the past few days I've noticed that a couple of the hens have seemed interested in the other roosters. Is this how the flocks split up in nature?

 

[Poultry parent]

They split up however they want. You can't really predict it.

 

[centrarchid]

In nature, the young, but sexually mature roosters became floaters that would establish an "orbit" around a mature rooster and his harem. The young rooster would sneak matings in with hens of the harem. If the main rooster was lost, then the satellite rooster was at a distinct advantage for taking over. Pullets moved into existing harems where the established hens would tolerate it. Seldom, I think, did young roosters have option to start their own harem as soon as they matured. Pullets also had to leave natal territory and it is likely the harem master (often their father) saw to that my driving off older offspring of the harem.

I have seen some of this played out in dunghill game chickens.