Aggressive Rooster only in morning...advice on rooster please

[byouland]

I now have 2 hens with one rooster. Every morning when I let the hens and rooster out of the coop, the rooster attacks the hens for about an hour. They are scared of him. Should I intervene, or let this happen? Everyone in the coop are now 4 months old. I'm contemplating on getting rid of this rooster, and getting a couple of more hens. But because I live in a rural neighborhood I thought keeping a rooster might be helpful in keeping predators away. Any suggestions?

 

[tallmanfarm]

I am no chicken/rooster expert but my rooster was the same way at that age and I had seven hens growing up with him. In my situation, at about 6 months this behavior soon became a "mating activity". Once he started his "rooster duty" he became much less aggressive with the hens. If I remember correctly it was also soon after he started "crowing" consistently and actually started sounding like a rooster...when he was little and started, he sounded very sickly, Lol.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

My roo (21 weeks old) does this every morning when I let them out into the run. He's trying to catch every girl he can to mount them. It's a mating thing. Normal.

 

[byouland]

My rooster doesn't look like he's trying to mate with any of the hens, just prevent them from eating or receiving attention from humans. When he comes running, they run the opposite direction. He started crowing at 3 months of age, and his aggression has gotten worse (not towards me) but towards the hens. I was curious if they should sleep in the same coop, or if I should separate them? But I was concerned if I intervened this would make matters worse. I'd hate to get rid of him.

 

[chick little]

I have to put my rooster down he's gone crazy.he got out of the coop and atacked a man he got16 stitches I'm not kidding he's biting everyone his aggression is toward humans. he's attacking every human he sees but he's good With the girls

 

[donrae]

I wouldn't keep a rooster that attacks hens. Mine have to be gentlemen. Yes, they're horny in the morning, but that's normal. Attacking isn't. If you have space you can try separating him from them for a few months and see if he matures into a nicer guy, but my thought is there are plenty of nice roosters, why mess with a mean one? Plus, is this really behavior you want to pass on if you hatch chicks?

Roosters don't deter predators at all. What they do is keep watch and alert the hens if something unusual happens or a predator comes around. If you don't have a rooster, one of the hens will take over this duty and alert the flock.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... they're horny in the morning, but that's normal. Attacking isn't.

Knowing or understanding the difference between a rooster being horny and attacking is important. At 4 months or 16 weeks old your birds are just now establishing their first teenage pecking order. Once the roo establishes his dominance I think things will settle down. Remember chickens aren't cute little people dressed up in feather dusters. If we expect them to act like humans we will only be greatly disappointed. Absolutely no chicken has any idea who Emily Post, Ann Launders, or Mrs. Manners are, and every chicken is thankfully beyond caring about acquired human norms and morals.

By the way a roosters' duty is not to protect his hens, his sole purpose in life is to mate with them. In my mind there is more sexual jealousy involved when a rooster fights off a predator than there is chivalry on the roosters part. One rooster to 2 hens is just asking for trouble in the hen house. You may be setting your own self up for a flogging by a sexually frustrated rooster who sees you as a threat to his already tiny harem. Depending on the breed of rooster, the time of year and how your are housing your birds, a male female ratio of from 1 rooster for 4 or 5 hens, all the way up to one rooster with 25 hens is more appropriate.

A number of years ago I raised several hundred birds for another person at a friends house. The customer supplied all the brood stock and the whole operation was as free range as they come. The only feed provided was lay pellets, shelled corn, oats and a little dry dog food all broadcast free choice. There was about 45 hens on this yard, every hen was either a mother daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, or niece by blood. Eggs were gathered bi daily. The only rooster on this yard was a 5 year old BB Red in peak health. I set the eggs at my home, 83 - 85% of the eggs hatched. Far from a record but a very good average all things considered.

 

[byouland]

When I got my chicks from a local supplier, I purchased 4 chicks that were 3 weeks old. 2 months later we discovered 2 of them were roosters. So I gave 1 away and now have 1 rooster with 2 hens. I would like more hens, but have been nervous since my roo has been aggressive. I bet your right he's just maturing and wants more females. Thank you for the advice. I'm gonna look into getting another 2 or 3 hens and see how that goes. You all have been very helpful to me since this is all so new to me. I'm hoping the aggression is only temporary until the hens understand he's boss and that we aren't going to interfere. Thank you!