are hens okay with mating?

[froggyphore]

i want to get a rooster or two next year but i don’t want to if the ladies will feel harassed by his behavior. i know they don’t think about stuff the way we do but i don’t like the idea of some roo running around and grabbing my unwilling ladies by the neck. i plan to get a silkie since they usually have a gentle temperament and are small enough for most of my ladies to avoid, would that make it easier on them? tyia

 

[DobieLover]

i want to get a rooster or two next year but i don’t want to if the ladies will feel harassed by his behavior. i know they don’t think about stuff the way we do but i don’t like the idea of some roo running around and grabbing my unwilling ladies by the neck. i plan to get a silkie since they usually have a gentle temperament and are small enough for most of my ladies to avoid, would that make it easier on them? tyia

If you are going to get a rooster, get a LF rooster if you have LF hens. The smaller boys are absolute GNATS to the big girls. They are on them longer and pull harder on the neck feathers because they have a hard time reaching the target.
And only get ONE male. Two will eventually fight.
Get a rooster that has been raised with other hens and preferably a senior rooster. Meet him first to ensure he is not human aggressive and inspect him and the entire flock for any obvious health issues. If possible, watch him interact with the hens he is currently housed with so you can see how he does with them.
My hens love their roosters.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Recommend you think of chickens as chickens, and not impose human emotions and feelings upon their behaviors.

You can see my flock in my signature, below.

Unlike my Pekin drake, who really does do some damage to the neck feathers of his hens (nothing about duck mating looks like the beautiful swan dance of the old Disney cartoon), chicken mating is "wham, bam, no time to thank you mam!" and done. Jump, bump, and walk away.

If we humans mated that way, I'm fair confident the species would have died out long ago - and yet plenty of my hens will do the mating circle around my breeding roo, and he with them.

They are chickens. They behave that way.

Now, if you have a small flock of "show hens", just a couple birds, and you are worried that the rooster's mating efforts might damage a few feathers, affecting their ability to show - then don't do it. If you plan to eat the eggs, and are squeamish about them being fertilized - don't do it. If you think you are going to make a decent income selling half Silkie mutts - don't do it. If you think your ladies are unhappy for lack of a rooster... Stop treating them like something they aren't.

I appreciate that you want to give them a good life. Give them a good CHICKEN life.

 

[Ridgerunner]

i want to get a rooster or two next year but i don’t want to if the ladies will feel harassed by his behavior.

What are your goals relative to a rooster? Why do you want a male? The only reason you need a male is if you want fertile eggs. Anything else is personal preference. Nothing wrong with personal preference, I have a few of those myself, but those are choices, not needs. I generally suggest you keep as few roosters as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems but the more you have the higher your chances of having problems.

i know they don’t think about stuff the way we do but i don’t like the idea of some roo running around and grabbing my unwilling ladies by the neck.

The head grab is a vital part of the mating act. It's the hen's signal to raise her tail up out of the way so he can hot the target. It's instinctive for him to grab the head, it's instinctive for her to raise her tail when he does. Whether they are willing or not, he will grab their head.

i plan to get a silkie since they usually have a gentle temperament and are small enough for most of my ladies to avoid, would that make it easier on them?

Not from what I've seen.

I don't know your goals or why you want a rooster. Lots of people have flocks with just hens, no boys around at all. Those hens are usually happy if they have room and other basics. A rooster will not make them happy, they can be quite content without one. Usually they get along great with a rooster but occasionally you get one that is a real brute.

It sound like you would be upset if you saw typical mating behavior. From what you've said I would not get a rooster. Your hens may or may not be OK with it but I don't think you will be.

 

[AOrchard]

There's two things at play here. Stress on the hens. And stress on the humans.

The hens:

A single rooster, over a year old, will generally go over well with the hens. The teenager roosters in particular can be rough and definitely can stress out the hens, especially if there's multiple boys. I do not recommend having younger roosters, as this can create a lot of tension in the flock. A single mature rooster will generally fit in well and the hens will usually respond favorably to him.

I personally prefer hens with a rooster that's their same size. This usually means not the same breed, as roosters of a breed are usually bigger than hens of the same breed. If the rooster is much smaller than the hen, as others have said, he will end up pulling out the feathers more because he's having trouble reaching. I have standard size hens with a very large bantam cochin rooster. Though he's technically a bantam, he's maybe only a pound smaller than the hens. He can reach fine, but makes me more comfortable since he is smaller (he has always been polite to humans, but if he ever wasn't I like that he is smaller and easier to handle).

The owner:

Chicken mating can be triggering for people, since it's not always consensual. I have been sexually assaulted before, and it was uncomfortable at first having a rooster.

Hens don't respond to non-consensual the way we do. They don't develop the level of emotional trauma that we can. They can develop a dislike for a particular rooster who isn't polite, and will chase him off and scold him. That's not to say the hens aren't affected, but they also don't approach mating the way humans do.

Roosters will absolutely hold down a hen. They will also be sweet and take care of their hens, and the hens will also invite him over for mating sometimes. It's not perfect, but the hens aren't helpless, and they do work out their own agreement with the rooster about how things will go. Many species in the animal kingdom sex isn't so nice.

It helped me get more comfortable with having a rooster when I spent awhile seeing flock dynamics in action.

I am very selective about the roosters I allow to stay in the flock. Roosters can have very different personalities, and if they don't settle down and play nice with the hens then they go in the freezer. If you choose to pursue getting a rooster, I suggest you also be ready to try a few different ones so that you can find one that you like.

 

[3KillerBs]

Another voice in the "What do you want a rooster FOR?" chorus.

You may want him for sustainability, to raise your own chicks and perpetuate the flock. With this WILL come the need to cull the extra cockerels. Finding the boys a forever pet home is not a realistic expectation.

You may want him for his beauty. That's not a bad reason to want a rooster, but beauty comes with all the other rooster behavior.

You may want him to because you feel that it completes the flock and makes the chicken social group more natural. That's not a bad reason to want a rooster, but not all natural chicken social group behavior looks appealing to humans. Dominance and mating are part of that.

You may want him as a flock guardian. Sometimes that works, sometimes that doesn't.

There are many reasons to have a rooster. Some roosters will fulfill those purposes well, others will not. Are you prepared to deal with a rooster who is not fulfilling his purpose and who needs to be replaced?

 

[WonkierZulu]

Haha my little rooster jumping on the big hens is almost like a rodeo. But as for getting a rooster I think the dance and how he courts them aka lures them in is important. Definitely get a good boy

 

[froggyphore]

thanks so much for all the long responses everyone!