Am I The Problem? Rooster Talk

[Crazychickenlady05]

I have raised 3 wonderful roosters. One passed at 8 years, one passed at 2 years and one is 4 years old but lives in my dad's coop.

I have been trying to replace my wonderful rooster in my coop for 2 years. All from hatchling and every single one has turned into a giant jerk. I understand that this can happen and does often. My current roo is about 6 months old, in the throws of hormones, but is literally flogging my older hens. He is okay with my hens under 4 years old. But not any older than that.

Is this genetics? Is this my raising style? Is this just me needing to give time for hormones to chill out? Or is this just me needing to find an older roo?

I did try an older roo about a year back (2 years) he was okay, but not the greatest with the girls.

More info in case it is needed. I have 1 rooster to 24 hens. They are in a run, but have enough space and various enrichment. I am out there daily with them. Most of the roos I have tries have been some sort of offspring/relation to my wonderful roo I lost 2 years ago, hence the genetics question.

 

[sourland]

A 6 month old cockerel is just a hormone driven teenager. The older hens want nothing to do with him because he's a kid. His reaction to that is to fight/flog them. Given enough space and time he may mature into a reasonable flock leader. If his bad behavior escalates, I would separate him from the flock until he matures.

 

[paradisepentacoop]

I appreciate your question. While I can't give any opinion due to lack of exp, your question has helped me figure that I definitely need to rehome some of my roos, since my flock consists of 4 roosters and 3 hens. I really don't want to have puberty literally kill off some of my chickens!

 

[Ridgerunner]

A 6 month old cockerel is just a hormone driven teenager. The older hens want nothing to do with him because he's a kid. His reaction to that is to fight/flog them. Given enough space and time he may mature into a reasonable flock leader. If his bad behavior escalates, I would separate him from the flock until he matures.

My current roo is about 6 months old, in the throws of hormones, but is literally flogging my older hens.

I don't know what that flogging looks like. It is fairly common for older hens to beat up on an immature cockerel. Sometimes he tries to mate them and they run from him or they fight him. It is pretty common for some hens to mate with him but the dominant hen will knock him off or attack him if he tries to mate in her presence.

As long as no one is being injured, him or the hens, I leave them alone. But if they are fighting or one is attacking the other they can be hurt. Eventually he will mature enough to take over the flock. Separating him until he matures more can be a good option.

Most of mine manage to take over the flock around 7 months but I had one that could not until he hit 11 months. The problem was that he had a weak personality and the dominant hen had a strong personality. Most of the time they can WOW! the hens with the force of personality, the takeover isn't that bad. But a weaker male may have to rely more on brute force than personality. With that 11 month one it was two days of vicious fighting before he won out. Neither was injured very badly but it would have been easy for one to have been seriously injured or killed. The personality of the hens plays a part too.

This is not always easy. Some boys never truly mature into a self-confident dominant male. He may have to rely more on brute force to control his flock instead of just on personality. I don't want to worry you excessively. Most of the time they mature fine and you have a very peaceful flock when the cockerel matures into a rooster. But with living animals you don't get guarantees.

To be clear, in your place I'd give him more time. The only question is whether to let them go as they are or if you need to lock him up for a while so he can mature.

 

[Crazychickenlady05]

I don't know what that flogging looks like. It is fairly common for older hens to beat up on an immature cockerel. Sometimes he tries to mate them and they run from him or they fight him. It is pretty common for some hens to mate with him but the dominant hen will knock him off or attack him if he tries to mate in her presence.

As soon as he sees them, he runs then into the coop, corners them and spurs them. No mating behaviors. He has injured 2 hens.

He is currently separated. As I have a strict no animal is allowed to injure another rule. I will see how it goes.

Thank you for your reply and insight!

 

[wrathsfarm]

No rooster or cockerel should be allowed to intentionally injure a hen or pullet.
In this case I would cull him.

Edited to add... You could try the separation for a week or 2, but in my opinion next time would be the final time.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As soon as he sees them, he runs then into the coop, corners them and spurs them. No mating behaviors. He has injured 2 hens.

He needs to be gone. That is not a cockerel I would ever trust. Keep him separated until you can get rid of him.

 

[Mrs. K]

I too, had a perfectly wonderful rooster two years ago, by far the best I have ever had. He was not beautiful, a mutt, but honestly had ALL of the other boxes checked. His hens adored him, he bred without a feather out of place. The flock was calm and confident, the chicks adored him, he tidbitted, was aware of predators, had a specific call, made nests for the hens, wing danced, grandchildren did not upset him...just perfect.

I think he ruined all other roosters for me. I too, am on my second rooster since him. The first one got violent. The current one is ok, but...

Just keep trying

 

[McChooky]

He needs to be gone. That is not a cockerel I would ever trust. Keep him separated until you can get rid of him.

Yes!

 

[Perris]

All from hatchling and every single one has turned into a giant jerk. I understand that this can happen and does often. My current roo is about 6 months old, in the throws of hormones, but is literally flogging my older hens

This suggests that although born and bred in the flock, there is no older male present to educate him, and he has no option but to try to learn how to be a dominant roo by trial and error. Is this the case?