5 month old rooster getting very mean

[kim10261]

In april I bought 6 baby chicks,Buff Orpingtons,3 turned out to be roosters,and 1 Mr.Roody Roo is getting very mean towards the other 2 roosters,my husband and myself,the other 2 roosters are not mean at all,can his bad attitude be changed or his fate sealed

 

[Donna J]

You may have too many roosters in one pen. You may have to separate them out. Usually it's like one rooster to five hens.

 

[keesmom]

You need to part with at least 2, if not all, of your cockerels. He has made your decision easy on the first to go. Do that then consider the next choice.

 

[kim10261]

will he eventually get mean with my hens and do you think if I put a pecking seed block in the run that would help

 

[Peeps61]

Your rooster has hit his teenage years and is acting accordingly. However, I agree with the other posters that at least two of your roosters need to go. Either find a new home for them and replace with female chicks, or remove one at the time as you determine they are human aggressive. Typically, roosters will go through a "crazy" period until they are around a year old. Do what you think best, but that's my advice. I currently have NO roosters and my hens are perfectly happy.

 

[krista74]

A pecking seed block is not going to help at all, I'm afraid. He is doing what all teenagers do - act out.

I believe the ideal rooster/hen ratio is something like 1 roo to every 10 hens. More than one roo is only going to get you into trouble, unless you have adequate hens to keep them occupied. Even if they manage to contain themselves and not fight each other (or confront you) think of the duress they will put your hens under.

I have one rooster and six hens and already the girls have bare backs and cuts on their sides - not because the rooster is rough, but because he is mating them too often. I can see already I will need more hens to take the pressure off the others.

My best advice would be that for 3 hens, one rooster is more than enough. To be honest, I think you need more hens even for one rooster. And I agree with @keesmom - your first choice to go has already been decided for you. It is not acceptable for roosters to exhibit aggression towards you and your husband.

- Krista

 

[aart]

Get rid of 2 of the cockerels, you can even just put them in a different pen out of sight, and the remaining 1 should calm down immediately.
I went thru this in the spring, it's about competition between cockerels.

 

[kim10261]

thanks everyone one for the input,I worked all weekend and am off tomorrow,i will see how bad he is acting,gosh what a hard call this is but I cannot have any of them being mean,and he is my handsomest rooster