10-mo-old cockerel bullying lead hen

[All Ball]

Boy I hope so!

 

[All Ball]

Well, nothing has changed yet between the two for the better, but the roo has developed a habit of going against another hen, the bottom ranked girl - he won't tidbit her, drives her away from treats and sometimes slightly charges her from the other side of the chainlink. Even though she is the only hen who will immediately squat for him (the others seem to prefer a bit of chase). She has a slight motor or structural issue with her legs that gives her a slighly awkward gait. She was always driven away by her sisters, but got along with her brothers. But now he's decided there's something wrong with her.

Aren't good roos supposed to be even-handed and assure that all hens share in the food? I am once again wondering about this guy.

 

[aart]

Well, nothing has changed yet between the two for the better, but the roo has developed a habit of going against another hen, the bottom ranked girl - he won't tidbit her, drives her away from treats and sometimes slightly charges her from the other side of the chainlink. Even though she is the only hen who will immediately squat for him (the others seem to prefer a bit of chase). She has a slight motor or structural issue with her legs that gives her a slighly awkward gait. She was always driven away by her sisters, but got along with her brothers. But now he's decided there's something wrong with her.

Aren't good roos supposed to be even-handed and assure that all hens share in the food? I am once again wondering about this guy.

Not necessarily...they should tidbit and may break up hen fights among other things.
But all cock/erels are not created equal, and some are better than others.

The low girl is a weak link due to her infirmity, it's natural for flock mates to drive her off, even(maybe especially) the cockbird. I've had a bird driven off like that (not sure what was wrong with her), luckily I have plenty of space and she was not injured from the harassment tho the cock chased her all over, she started hanging out with the pullet group.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

At his age, if he's not working for you and still exhibiting bad behaviors it might be time to cull and try again. I was really hoping he would improve.

I have had gimpy hens and hens that are off. A rooster should either tend to her or ignore her. There is an exception when a hen is showing sign of disease they may attack them to drive them out of the flock. I recently witnessed a 8 week old rooster attacking one of the hens. Under closer inspection the hen was quite ill, she had horrible diarrhea and was obviously very sick. I hadn't noticed it, but the tiny rooster pointed it out.

He's mature enough now for you to decide his fate. He probably will always behave poorly towards certain hens. Maybe your lead hen always knew it, that's why she never accepted him.

 

[JackE]

I had the same thing happen here. Tried separating the rooster, didn't make any difference at all. Soon as he was back with the flock, back on the attack. Wasn't nothing wrong, or odd about the hen (B.O). He just wanted her gone. He, I believe, would have ended up killing the hen. He ended up in the pot. She provided eggs, he was, IMO, useless. After he went, the whole flock dynamic changed for the better.

 

[All Ball]

Thank you all for your advice! Sigh. Yes, I'm afraid everyone involved has pretty cemented personalities, so it's not likely to work out. I may wait a little longer until the hormones have definitively lowered for the year and try once more, and then cull him.

 

[Elemes]

Glad i found this little nook of BYC. I'm having similar issues with my BCM cockerel (9 months), who has been awarded solo-cockerel spot as of a couple months ago. He's taken to doing the chasing and can't get the girls to sit for him, so he takes off running. It's ugly.
He is submissive with me, I don't chase him, I am able to pick him up and don't get spurred or anything, so I'm sure he's just a little flustered over his biological needs not being met.
Today was a different story, though, as he chased the 4 month old pullets and pulled out their feathers. Little !

I have a couple of cockerel grow-outs to choose from if he needs rehomed but I'll give him a few more months. How is your young buck doing now?
Is he any better?

 

[All Ball]

Sounds like you might want to isolate him until the pullets are a little older and ready for him - are they past point of lay? Otherwise he might be one of those guys who is good with people but not good to girls.

My lead hen and roo did not ever make up. I don't think it's necessarily my guy, I think my old girl just doesn't want to give up power to him, and he definitely wants to call the shots. I've just recently decided it's hopeless and will see if I can rehome him to a happier place where he won't be in a kennel while the girls free range. He's lonely too often and most of the girls want me to let them in to the kennel to lay eggs -- too high maintenance!!!

 

[Beekissed]

To me all of this sounds just like pecking order issues and nothing to do with bad roosters vs good roosters. Sounds to me like he's doing his job and this dominant hen is the problem. As soon as you let him sort her out without interference, I'm betting she'll start to get the new pecking order.

I'd pay attention to his attempts to drive away certain hens...he's not doing it because he's a bad rooster, but because he's a good one. More often than not, when I've had a rooster isolate and drive away certain hens they had some kind of issue inside I couldn't see until I culled them. Some were just chronically barren, some had genetic issues~wry tail, heart defect, etc.

He sounds like a keeper to me but the hen in question sounds like one I would have culled long ago.

 

[All Ball]

Thanks Beekissed - I very much value your thoughts. I assume u are talking about my case, not the feather-picking BCM. He is a pretty good boy. My lead hen is built like a brick house and brooded him. I think shes quite healthy. She's been the boss for 4 years and is used to it. With him around, she crows more in the mornings than she used to. He has bloodied her head, chewed off some of her points and flogged her back when she was in the submissive squat position, so i dont feel i can let the pecking order play out. It ends up with him driving her out of the flock. Its a fight for power, not about her health. She was here first, so i have chosen her. He also drives away one of his half-sisters who does have some defects, so it's easier for me to remove him - he doesn't lay eggs or brood chicks, and I have a small flock anyway. Since I think he's a good roo - after he and I resolved some slight human aggression last spring - I hope to find him a new home with a larger flock of younger girls who will all love him. It would be better for genetic diversity, anyway, as here he is with a bunch of at least half sisters.