Behaviour of rooster! (new to roosters)

[Diwinoo]

Hi! This is my first topic here, and i dont want to make it too long! So i've ended up with a baby cockerel, i have him since 4 days old, but i've only had one other roosters before, that was a angel from birth till now (5 years old).
Long story short he is 8-9 months old now and today made me question keeping him. 1.5 months ago he became the head of the flock, the other one is safe
but kinda alone, he is being kept away but he has his old ladyes, so im ok with that. Usually he chases the 5 year old from food, i get that it's natural but i kinda wanted to protect the older one, so he can have a nice full meal in peace by me being there, so everytime i would see the young one chasing the older one i would step in, and i would not let the young one come close to the older one, i did nothing special i just stood there and he would not really cross me. I think that was kind of a slap in the young ones face, seeing the older one eat and he cant do none(they have many feeding spaces but the older one isnt allowed at any). So whats the problem? Well today i did the same, the old one was far away in a corner so i gave him something to eat, i went a bit away and i saw the younger one going to interupt the older one, so as i always did i stepped in, but today he wouldnt back away, for a split second he went into their lean back, head forward stance, as i stopped faceing him, he kinda ran behind my back, but he didnt attack.
+ he kinda got me back by crossing me and eating straight from were i was not letting him eat from, and for however long i stood there he was eyeing me down and kept making noises.
My questions are : does he think he is above me? will he want to *fight me*? should i cull him? should i put him to the ground to kinda dominate him?
I would really like your answers, thanks a lot!

 

[sourland]

He may be thinking about challenging you. Unless you really need/want two roosters, why not rehome him?

 

[Diwinoo]

He may be thinking about challenging you. Unless you really need/want two roosters, why not rehome him?

The ideea was in the eventuality of the older one dieing, to still have a rooster for breeding and for the protection of the hens, im a bit attached to him so i would hope that he is not going to become agressive.
Maybe if i let him do his thing? If i stop myself from going into his business will he still want to claim his spot by attacking? He mates his hens in front of me and i read that kinda makes him test my boundaries

 

[aart]

He mates his hens in front of me and i read that kinda makes him test my boundaries

Nonsense.

What he does has nothing to do with you. Interfering in chicken business is not good, IMO.

Multiple males are almost always going to cause problems, it's in their nature to fight other males.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Maybe if i let him do his thing? If i stop myself from going into his business will he still want to claim his spot by attacking? He mates his hens in front of me and i read that kinda makes him test my boundaries

I don't know how common it is but two of my three cockerels get super weird and obsessive about food. If I tried to stop them from eating food that was in their space regularly when they were hungry, I would probably get bopped eventually even though they both are very friendly otherwise. It doesn't sound to me like yours is actually being aggressive to you, so I wouldn't escalate the situation by pushing him down, etc. How many feeders do you have? If it's only the one then try adding another some distance away rather than stopping one bird from eating.

Regarding the hen mating thing...mine do that in front of me all the time and I've never gotten the sense it's some kind of display towards me. I wouldn't worry about it too much in the absence of other aggressive behaviors. In my case at least, the hens seem to actually prefer to go over near me to squat, so they're actually the ones who cause it to happen right next to me. It's not always a dominance thing.

 

[wrathsfarm]

All good advise... I have 3 boys. 2 flocks and a single cockerel waiting on his new girls to get old enough.

Sometimes you can have 2 flocks going with enough space to stay away from each other. My case,.. no so I run seperate free range times. Seperate coops, seperate runs. I alternate half day out, half day in run every other day with each flock, meaning Kong and his girls go out this morning today and 2maro it's afternoon to dusk. King and his girls are same... afternoon today, morning 2maro.

Anyway to do something like this for your 2 boys? Yes they do meet at their runs and interact thru the hc but no serious injuries this way hopefully. It's working for us so far. I would hate to see one of my boys getting beat up relentlessly everyday especially an older good roo.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This kind of thing often happens when a younger rooster deposes an older flockmaster. It can happen the other way if the older one wins the fights. There is nothing unusual about the winner running the loser out of the flock. This happens all of the time in nature with many different kinds of animals. It is highly unlikely to get better with time. I think you have a few options.

Get rid of one of the boys. That can mean give one away or sell him, eat one, or just kill him and dispose of the body. I don't think this is your preferred option.

Lock them away from each other. If they can't get to each other they can't hurt each other. That could be locking one boy by himself with his own a coop and run or giving each one his own harem.

I can't think of anything else that will work. If you leave things as they are I suspect you will soon have a dead rooster.

 

[Tired old Rooster]

Best to put a barrier between the old boy and his ladies and the rest of the flock.

 

[wrathsfarm]

I've been considering putting plexiglass up 2 ft around our runs to avoid any possible beak/spur damage. Maybe drill 1/8 inch holes like a pegboard for venting during hot weather.

 

[Folly's place]

Also, having multiple feeders and waterers is essential, preferably out of sight so birds can all eat and drink without being harassed. Hens can do this to each other too.
Interfering directly as you have been doing won't make either bird behave better towards the other.
And your younger bird might well be planning to take you on!
Mary