Rooster/Hen size Mismatch?

[LiseeLou]

We are pretty new to chickens and I have a question about our new rooster. Sorry for the long story .

Tl:dr is a leghorn rooster too big for half bantam Easter egger hens?

We currently have 2, 1-year old mix breed hens (Easter egger type, one looks like a black polish[Wesley], the other is white with brown speckles [Buttercup]). We used to have a rooster that grew up with them (Count Rugen, looked like a leghorn, but also mixed breed), but he escaped around January, we assume a predator got him. Talking to their breeders, it sounds like they are at least half bantam. We haven’t weighed them recently, but will soon.

We just got a new rooster (Lewis) he is a 5 month old white leghorn. He is considerably larger than our old rooster, despite being at least 4 months younger than Rugen was last we saw him. The hens are very shy of Lewis, Wesley won’t tolerate him at all (she has been broody lately, so it’s hard to tell if she is hiding, or just still brooding). At first, Buttercup tried to bully Lewis through the “get to know you” fence, but now that they are together, she runs from him. She’s never been cuddly (not shy like Wesley, but no lap chicken) but now, she will sit on my lap or shoulder while I’m in the run, I’m assuming in order to stay away from Lewis’s advances. If no people are around, she seems to be retreating to the coop more often than before.

We also have 3 more chicks, but they are only 1 month old, we’re hoping they are also hens so that our rooster/hen ratio is better.
Does this sound like normal “new rooster” adjustment period stuff, or is Lewis too big for our hens? Just eyeing them, I’d say the hens are about 2/3 of his size. If he grows much more though, I can see him being twice as big as them.
Thanks for helping out a newbie!

 

[DobieLover]

We are pretty new to chickens and I have a question about our new rooster. Sorry for the long story .

Tl:dr is a leghorn rooster too big for half bantam Easter egger hens?

We currently have 2, 1-year old mix breed hens (Easter egger type, one looks like a black polish[Wesley], the other is white with brown speckles [Buttercup]). We used to have a rooster that grew up with them (Count Rugen, looked like a leghorn, but also mixed breed), but he escaped around January, we assume a predator got him. Talking to their breeders, it sounds like they are at least half bantam. We haven’t weighed them recently, but will soon.

We just got a new rooster (Lewis) he is a 5 month old white leghorn. He is considerably larger than our old rooster, despite being at least 4 months younger than Rugen was last we saw him. The hens are very shy of Lewis, Wesley won’t tolerate him at all (she has been broody lately, so it’s hard to tell if she is hiding, or just still brooding). At first, Buttercup tried to bully Lewis through the “get to know you” fence, but now that they are together, she runs from him. She’s never been cuddly (not shy like Wesley, but no lap chicken) but now, she will sit on my lap or shoulder while I’m in the run, I’m assuming in order to stay away from Lewis’s advances. If no people are around, she seems to be retreating to the coop more often than before.

We also have 3 more chicks, but they are only 1 month old, we’re hoping they are also hens so that our rooster/hen ratio is better.
Does this sound like normal “new rooster” adjustment period stuff, or is Lewis too big for our hens? Just eyeing them, I’d say the hens are about 2/3 of his size. If he grows much more though, I can see him being twice as big as them.
Thanks for helping out a newbie!

He's not too big for them.
He's too young.
Cockerels, like many teenaged boys, have one thing on their minds when the finer sex is involved. But they often do not have the skill or patience to woo the objects of their affection.
You might want to consider penning him within sight of the flock for a much longer period of time to give him time to mature and the girls more time to get used to his presence.

 

[berryncherry]

We are pretty new to chickens and I have a question about our new rooster. Sorry for the long story .

Tl:dr is a leghorn rooster too big for half bantam Easter egger hens?

We currently have 2, 1-year old mix breed hens (Easter egger type, one looks like a black polish[Wesley], the other is white with brown speckles [Buttercup]). We used to have a rooster that grew up with them (Count Rugen, looked like a leghorn, but also mixed breed), but he escaped around January, we assume a predator got him. Talking to their breeders, it sounds like they are at least half bantam. We haven’t weighed them recently, but will soon.

We just got a new rooster (Lewis) he is a 5 month old white leghorn. He is considerably larger than our old rooster, despite being at least 4 months younger than Rugen was last we saw him. The hens are very shy of Lewis, Wesley won’t tolerate him at all (she has been broody lately, so it’s hard to tell if she is hiding, or just still brooding). At first, Buttercup tried to bully Lewis through the “get to know you” fence, but now that they are together, she runs from him. She’s never been cuddly (not shy like Wesley, but no lap chicken) but now, she will sit on my lap or shoulder while I’m in the run, I’m assuming in order to stay away from Lewis’s advances. If no people are around, she seems to be retreating to the coop more often than before.

We also have 3 more chicks, but they are only 1 month old, we’re hoping they are also hens so that our rooster/hen ratio is better.
Does this sound like normal “new rooster” adjustment period stuff, or is Lewis too big for our hens? Just eyeing them, I’d say the hens are about 2/3 of his size. If he grows much more though, I can see him being twice as big as them.
Thanks for helping out a newbie!

Something similar has happened to me before. It should be okay, as long as Lewis is not excessively mating them or is much too aggressive. Our old hens were also not fond of our rooster when they first met him, but they became used to him over time. Something that has helped me a lot is giving our hens saddles to protect from mating.