Aggressive or Normal Rooster Behavior?

[Jraba1315]

I have two Welsummers that are 15 weeks old, one rooster and one pullet. I have three younger pullets but I've been raising them separately and slowly integrating them.

Anyways this morning when I let the two Welsummers out of the coop and walked them over to the run (about 20 yards apart, temporary setup) the rooster out of nowhere grabbed the pullet right around her the back of her neck with his beak and wouldn't let go until the feathers pulled out.

Not sure what happened there. They seemed fine after I put them in the run, and they have been fine since, but I thought that was rather aggressive behavior, although I'm not an expert. Is this normal rooster behavior or is this aggressive?

The rooster is very friendly towards people and generally gets along pretty well with the pullet. They chase each other around a bit, but not incessantly.

I am having something similar happening except I don’t think mine is normal, I was trying to introduce my cockerel to my hens because he was bullying the pullets that he came with. He was in a car inside of where they are kept so they could come up to each other but could seriously injure/attack each other. He ended up challenge/attacking one of my hens with chicks and actually ended up making her bleed on the top of her head. I made a thread about it on here and I got mixed results in whether people thought I should get rid of him or not. And did he make the hen bleed? From what I was told the cock/erel is not supposed to make any of the hens bleed. I hope at least some of that was helpful!

 

[aart]

Here's are all the chickens together. Sunday was their first full day together, previously the younger chicks have been off in their own enclosed corner so that the Welsummers can see them but not get to them. But they did well together Sunday. Yesterday the white rocks stayed inside as it was pouring rain, but the Welsummers went out by themselves so they got a break from each other. Today I have them back in the run all together. I'm monitoring them closely but they really don't seem to have any trouble with each other. The white rocks are catching up in size quickly too. View attachment 1929011

Awesome, you have a great setup for integration and now it's paying off!

 

[Mrs. K]

the rooster is very friendly towards people

That is the part that is worrying me. They need to respect you, if they are overly friendly, it is not like puppies or kittens, it can mean that they are not afraid of you. In chicken society, fear means respect. Often times the darling can become the nightmare because they are not intimidated by people, and become aggressive toward them.

Be aware of your rooster.

Mrs K

 

[JoeInPA]

That is the part that is worrying me. They need to respect you, if they are overly friendly, it is not like puppies or kittens, it can mean that they are not afraid of you. In chicken society, fear means respect. Often times the darling can become the nightmare because they are not intimidated by people, and become aggressive toward them.

Be aware of your rooster.

Mrs K

So I want my chickens to be fearful of me?

 

[Mrs. K]

Not fearful, but you want your roosters to respect your space. The rooster should give you about 5 feet of room. They should not stare stink eye at you, they should not start excessively crowing and/or flapping their wings when you come in. Or puffing up to look big.

Roosters are not like puppies and kittens, which if you are nice to them, they will be nice to you. In chicken society, every time two birds meet, one is lower and one is higher. The lower bird moves out of the way. Sometimes, if you are moving out of a rooster's way, or if you are letting him sit in your lap, you are taking the lower position, it is not that he likes you, it is that he is not afraid of you.

Each rooster is a crap shoot, and some are darlings, and some are nightmares. Many times, people not used to chickens misread the cues and signs, and this forum is full of posts, where the darling becomes the nightmare in what seems like overnight.

Just be aware, what appears friendly, sometimes is not, and a rooster full of himself can give a pretty violent attack. Not all do, but often times, pets do.

Mrs K