Young Cochin roo

[Mahtowagal]

So I have my second flock of docile Cochins. My last flock was 9 hens with 1 roo. I raised them together from hatchery chicks. I don’t recall my roo ever going through a problem phase as a youngster. In fact I don’t even remember when he started mating the girls. It was a pretty uneventful time I guess. He was a great roo!!!

My new flock is currently just 5 Cochin hens with 1 roo. I have already rehomed 3 other roos that were raised with this SR bunch. I have more Cochin chicks coming in August and my hope was to make it until the end of October when they could go out to the coop and my roo would then have 9 hens. Sadly my current roo ( they are 15 weeks) has started being pretty mean at times. He has grabbed a hen hard on the back of the head/neck even when not mounting. He will just stand there next to her and pull on the back of her neck while she screams. I have seen this twice now and heard several more similar screams. He is friendly otherwise and is friendly to me ( when I can catch him) but this behavior is making me think I need to rehome as I really don’t want an injured or stressed hen. I know the Roos mature faster than the hens and this can be a rough time but does this sound like normal run of the mill cockerel stuff or ? Thanks in advance.

 

[-Chanticleer-]

I’d rehome him. I had a similar cockerel he’s pull head and tail feathers when he was bored. He was always nice to me but the pullets were a different story.

 

[Mahtowagal]

I’d rehome him. I had a similar cockerel he’s pull head and tail feathers when he was bored. He was always nice to me but the pullets were a different story.

It’s sad because his 3 GORGEOUS “brothers” that I rehomed are doing the same thing to my friends hens and they are free ranged on a huge property. So it sounds like he’s going to possibly cull those 3. The plan was he would allow all of them to live on his property. They’re not fighting at all but they’re mean to the hens. They were such beautiful birds. Cochins are generally not aggressive so I’m surprised by the behavior but maybe I shouldn’t be.

 

[Mahtowagal]

It’s sad because his 3 GORGEOUS “brothers” that I rehomed are doing the same thing to my friends hens and they are free ranged on a huge property. So it sounds like he’s going to possibly cull those 3. The plan was he would allow all of them to live on his property. They’re not fighting at all but they’re mean to the hens. They were such beautiful birds. Cochins are generally not aggressive so I’m surprised by the behavior but maybe I shouldn’t be. View attachment 3597424View attachment 3597426

To be fair- I’ve only seen him (“Blue”) do it twice and I think I’ve heard it happen 2 other times over the past few days. I’m out there quite a bit and the rest of the time they are all a big happy family. I assume it will get worse as he matures more to 16-20 weeks. I guess that’s what I’m wondering.