Active Rooster

Flumes

In the Brooder
8 Years
Jan 21, 2012
16
2
26
I got 6 easter egger chicks from Tractor Supply back on April 2nd. Lo and behold, the prettiest of them all is a rooster.
Well....I thought I had alot of time before having to worry about Pepper and what to do with him because of his crowing, but never thought about his aggressive male pattern behaviour until very recently.

Sunday, he started crowing.....albeit humourous...it made me nervous.

And then yesterday, I heard one of the hens screaming like never before. As I turned to look, Pepper was ontop of Vannilli and pulling at her head!

Backyard Chickens and all the other netinfo I digested over the past year didn't prepare me for what I saw. My immediate reaction was to throw a screwdriver at him to protect Vannilli and then I came to my senses.

I just wasn't ready for it....and neither was Vannilli by the sounds of it! lol


So questions...

1) Should I be expecting eggs soon?

2) Do I need to separate them?

3) Is this normal?

Thanks in advance
 
1. Yes
2. Not necessarily. Chicken sex is not pretty. In fact, by human standards, it's downright brutal. A good roo will: call his girls to treats, round them up at bed time, dance before sex (preferred, but not always!) He will call his girls to preferred nesting sites, and even accompany them to/from the box. He will help take care of his chicks, or at least keep other hens from messing with them. He will break up hen squabbles. He will be on the look out and warn for predators. (While he will give warning, don't expect that he will keep your girls safe from sky OR land predators. Some roos will defend to the death, but not all.) He will not: EVER attack humans. He will not cause injury to his girls in his mating endeavors, though their back feathers may get completely worn off. He will not eat the treats and keep the girls from getting them.
3. Yes. Adolescent roos are particularly aggressive in their mating attempts. Unfortunately, they mature earlier than their hatch mates. You may need to separate him for a bit to give the girls time to grow up a bit. Mixed age flocks are good, cause that adolescent will most likely focus his attention on the sexually mature hens, and they will most likely flog some manners into him.
 
Cockerels sexually mature before pullets....so tho your boy is ready to boogie now at about 4 months, your females are likely not.
Once you see them submit and let him mate them....then eggs are imminent....at least another month or two.
If you don't want to keep a cock/erel in your flock...now is the perfect time to put him on the grill.
 

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