Bad behavior

[Milow-]

I have a problem with one of my cockerel Cochins. He is basically an ass to our polish hens. On more then one occasion he will bite them and just pull at their feathers as they cry out. Today he did this at least 3X with on two occasions our other cockerels (Polish and Colombian Wyandotte) to the rescue of the hen and chasing Clyde off. The other time today my husband had to intervene. Clyde will target different hens. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Not sure what to make of this behavior. He is about 10 weeks old and the Polish hens 2 weeks older. He is a bit of a loner also, he will wonder off on his own from the flock to free range with no regard that he is clearly far away from everyone else. Any suggestions how to handle this would be greatly appreciated. Is he going to be a mean Roosters???

 

[clembone]

I have a short way with mean roosters. There have been so many fine, protective, watchful, gentlemanly roosters in my flocks that I do not wish the contrary bloodlines to gain any foothold. I do not let mean roosters mount. They have to go. I find other homes for them, or they meet Mr. Knife and the Noodles. It disturbs me to see my laying hens getting attacked.

On the other hand, it could be that rooster A and rooster B have gathered up their own girlfriends, and left rooster C with no available girlfriends. If there were enough room, a separate environment, and some hens, perhaps this rooster might not act this way. The drive to pass genes on to the next generation is a very powerful force in a rooster's life.

I have had one example of three roosters working in the back yard. Rooster A ran the show and had most of the hens. Rooster B had three or four that seemed to favor him and follow him around. The only successful Rooster C kept a low profile in the woods and waited for the hens to go to him, and did just fine that way. Rooster A ignored him, and kept a close eye on Rooster B.

This interesting and satisfying situation only existed for the lives of those three roosters. Every other time, two was the limit, and the Rooster C, whoever he was, got desperate and mean, ambushing unwilling hens.

 

[aart]

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Not sure what to make of this behavior. He is about 10 weeks old and the Polish hens 2 weeks older.

Short answer, get rid of him.

So all birds are 10-12 weeks old?
How many birds total and are are their ages and genders?

He is a bit of a loner also, he will wonder off on his own from the flock to free range with no regard that he is clearly far away from everyone else.

He's probably being kept away by the other males.
Multiple males are a PITA(competition) and it takes some special birds with plenty of space to coexist peacefully.

 

[Folly's place]

He's being an adolescent idiot!
What are your plans for him, and for your flock? Are they all pullets and cockerels? Do you really need all three cockerels, or is it just the cuteness factor?
I'd move him on elsewhere too! You already have two other cockerels.
Birds with topknots, like Polish, are often targeted by other flockmates, who find their (weird) feathering irresistible.
Mary

 

[Cryss]

How many pullets and hens do you have?

 

[Milow-]

We have 23 birds total with 6 cockerels. Our plan was to leave 3 roosters with the hens and move the other three roosters to their own ”guys only” coop/area. Can he coexist peacefully with roosters only? How do we determine which other roosters to keep with the hens? When should we move them? this is my first time raising chickens and we ended up with more roosters then we intended.

 

[Shadrach]

Polish chickens do not generally fare well with other breeds. This is reasonably common knowledge.
So. maybe don't blame the rooster. In any event, this is an issue that I don't think you will be able to resolve without either rehoming or killing the rooster.

 

[jane s chickens]

I have 12 hens & 3 roos who coexist peacefully..

 

[aart]

We have 23 birds total with 6 cockerels. Our plan was to leave 3 roosters with the hens and move the other three roosters to their own ”guys only” coop/area. Can he coexist peacefully with roosters only? How do we determine which other roosters to keep with the hens? When should we move them? this is my first time raising chickens and we ended up with more roosters then we intended.

Are all the birds the same age?
Why do you want 3 males?
1 male is plenty if you want to hatch out some eggs next year.

What kind of coops and runs do you have available?
Dimensions and pics would be most helpful.

Seriously for your first year, I'd suggest you get rid of all the males(an all female flock is much easier to manage) they are delicious on the grill at about 14 weeks old(slaughtering is another chickeener learning curve and valuable skill).

 

[Folly's place]

Are you planning to raise chicks from your flock? Half or more will be cockerels, and do you have a plan for that? Umpteen 'rooster flocks'?
Mary