Aggressive Breeding

[DotTheHen]

Hello, I am getting a bit concerned about my flock. My rooster is good, but not great. He is perfect in the sense that he finds food for the girls and protects them from things. But he is a very aggressive breeder. He is almost a year old and he’s an Easter Egger.

My older hens, which make up a majority of the flock, don’t submit to him, which causes him to chase them around and pin them down. They squawk and cry and I’m rethinking if his cons outweigh his pros. He has never attacked any people or any other animals. He lets me hold him and all that, he’s just very aggressive when breeding.

He has actually injured one of my younger girls. It looked like she got scalped, and the injury was on the back of her neck, where he holds on.

Is his behavior too aggressive? What do I need to do to solve this? Will he “grow out” of this aggressive breeding stage? Thanks for the help!

 

[Pretty Birds]

Is his behavior too aggressive? What do I need to do to solve this? Will he “grow out” of this aggressive breeding stage?

How many hens does he have? If he is hurting the hens I would say he needs to go. It is normal for very young roosters to be like this, but a rooster that is almost a year old should have out grown this stage by now. See what other BYC members think...

 

[Chirpchirp19]

I have had the same thing happen just about a week ago, do you have other roosters? Someone said that it could be a dominance thing in front of the other boys. I had to bring my hen in because of the damage and didn't want it to become any worse. I am in the same boat with them being great roosters besides the breeding problem but they have now been separated together (I had two that would only go after the one hen) and they have been fine. Also as asked above how many hens does he have or share? I would separate though if he has done scalping damage.

 

[aart]

do you have other roosters?

Good question^^^

Knowing ages of birds would help...also how much space do they have?
Dimensions and pics of coop and run would help here @DotTheHen .

 

[Ridgerunner]

So he is almost a year old and you mostly have older hens. Good information.

What it sounds like to me is that he has not developed what he needs to Wow! the hens with his self-confidence and magnificence. They each have their own personality and he may not have what it takes. I had one that did not win over the dominant hen until he was 11 months old and he had to fight her and beat her up for two days to dominate her. He did it more by brute strength than by personality. The rest were submitting to him before that, just not the dominant hen. Which brings up a point, the personality of the hens has something to do with this.

Some hens may squat for anything in spurs, but many mature hens want a male that fulfills his flock duties and shows that he will make a good father to their future chicks. The mating act is as much if not more about dominance than it is about sex or fertilizing eggs. The one on bottom is submitting to the one on top, either willingly or by force. Since he cannot win them over by his personality, he has to result to force. If it were just one or two hens I'd say maybe it is something wrong with the hens, but it sounds like it is practically all of them. That sounds like it is his problem, not the hens.

It is possible he will grow out of those phase but I would not count on it. I find that the really late-maturing ones are more likely to resort to force than personality. I don't know why you want a rooster but in your situation I'd get a different one.

 

[Shadrach]

Hello, I am getting a bit concerned about my flock. My rooster is good, but not great. He is perfect in the sense that he finds food for the girls and protects them from things. But he is a very aggressive breeder. He is almost a year old and he’s an Easter Egger.

My older hens, which make up a majority of the flock, don’t submit to him, which causes him to chase them around and pin them down. They squawk and cry and I’m rethinking if his cons outweigh his pros. He has never attacked any people or any other animals. He lets me hold him and all that, he’s just very aggressive when breeding.

He has actually injured one of my younger girls. It looked like she got scalped, and the injury was on the back of her neck, where he holds on.

Is his behavior too aggressive? What do I need to do to solve this? Will he “grow out” of this aggressive breeding stage? Thanks for the help!

You have a problem. Any cockerel you introduce to a flock of mixed age hens is likely to struggle to impress the senior hens in particular. With the chickens I keep the junior cockerels and roosters learn from the seniors and while most try it on at some point by 13 to 18 months old they've settled down.
It reads like you have a fundamentally sound just about to be a rooster.
If you want a rooster in your flock then this one has most of the good points that many chicken keepers look for.
I would give him a chance. If you replace him things could turn out a lot worse.

 

[DotTheHen]

He currently has 6 hens available to him. He is the only male. He will be a year old in May/June. Everyone gets let out of the run and coop to free range on the property in the afternoon until it gets dark. They have a relatively large run, and a nice coop. Nothing like the TSC coops that you just set up.

I have my four original hens who are the oldest, around 2-3 years old. Then I have two EE girls who are nearing 2 years old. Then I got Winston (the rooster) and another pullet (Ginger) at the same time I got him. They were both 6 weeks old and they were housed together until they got bigger and could go into the big flock. Later on when they were more mature, Ginger would follow Winston around and the two EEs would also follow him around. The older girls were kinda indifferent. But recently, I think Winston was getting too aggressive with Ginger, and she started to run from him when she saw him. That’s around the time she got injured.

Ginger is separate until she heals (it just looks like a little scab now), but the two EEs are submissive to him and they don’t have any problems with him.

I got Winston because my chicken run doesn’t have much for them to scratch in. I realized they needed to find bugs and dig in leaves and force to be healthy. We have hawks and other predators, and I wanted them to be safe while I wasn’t watching them. We got a rooster to protect them while they are outside their coop. I’ve seen him sound the alarm due to hawks and he does a good job at warning the girls about danger.

I will post pictures of their coop and run ASAP! Thanks everyone!

PS. Once Ginger is out of the “hospital coop” could I put Winston in there? I have the ability to section off a part of the run for him. He could see the ladies but not touch them. Would he be okay in that arrangement?

 

[DotTheHen]

The coop dimensions are about 6 feet by 10 feet. The run is roughly 10 ft by 30 ft. The roof on the run is temporary, and everyone's wings are clipped so they won't fly into it in case you're worried. The little tiny coop in the back is the hospital pen for Ginger, and she's the only one living in there. She has her own separate area, and a dog corral for a temporary run. But normally no one is kept in there.

 

[kiwi-chick]

he may just be missing Ginger.... when you put her back in wait a bit and watch what happens.... if he is still aggressive try giving them something to distract his attention like a cabbage or some apples to peck at... it could be he's a little bored...

 

[DotTheHen]

Well I’ve been slowly letting Ginger mingle with the flock without separation and everyone is welcoming her back except Winston. He began to rush at her but I shooed him away before he got close to her. I will try to make some boredom busters for them! I think the issue with Ginger is that she’s kind tiny, but full grown. She’s just very petite, and doesn’t have a full bushy neck full of hackle feathers, so that probably contributed to the wound. Another question, I read that putting Pine Tar on the back of the hens necks can help with the aggressiveness. Something about how it tastes bad to the rooster and he lets go. Does that work? Thanks everyone!