Broody Hen = Frustrated Roo?

[Fluffy_Butt]

I'm new to chicken dynamics and I'm hoping to get some insight into my Roo's new behavior (TLDR at bottom since I can get a little wordy)

Background info: I have 3 silkies; Sam (my alpha male), his brother Dean, and Henrietta (Sam's favorite hen) that I got as together adults (1 and 2 years old). I also have some pullet chicks (and one surprise cockerel) that I got as day-olds and I began introducing them to the adults when they were about a month old. It went rather well, with only Henrietta giving a peck here or there if one got too rambunctious around her. Even as my cockerel (Mischief) got older, the roos were pretty indifferent. For the first few weeks, even though they cooped together (free range during the day) , it seemed like I had two flocks; one of the three adults and one of the young'uns, generally lead by Mischief (they were indifferent to each other and I rarely saw them in the same area in the yard). Now it may be worth noting that Mischief clearly already has a favorite girl, a light brahma named Ghost. For the past month or so though, both flocks have been mostly traveling together (although sometimes Mischief takes Ghost and a couple other girls off on their own) and Sam and Dean have been helping get the rest into the coop at night. All seemed happy in Fluffy Butt Farm land.

So on to my dilemma: Recently, Henrietta went broody (for the first time since I've gotten her) and now Sam has been acting, well, like a jerk. He's still good with people and Dean, but he's been going after Mischief (luckily Mischief is much faster and leaves Sam in the dust) and the pullets as well. With most of the pullets, he seems like he may be trying to mount them (?) (the pullets and Mischief are just over 3 months old) and then he ends up with a beak-full of feathers when they run off. With Ghost though, he is downright mean! Maybe because she's Mischief's favorite? This past weekend, he chased her until she was cornered (she's not as fast as Mischief) and when I pulled Sam away from her, she was terrorized and it took a few minutes for her to stop panting and calm down. They have a fair amount of space to spread out and avoid each other, but I'm a little worried about leaving them unsupervised when I'm at work.

This all seemed to start when Henrietta went broody and I'm wondering if maybe he's just horny and it's making him cranky? He's been trying to mount Henrietta much more frequently than he used to when I make her take a break from egg-sitting and she, understandably, isn't having it. Hopefully he'll be more himself when she's back in the flock?

Any thoughts/advice?

Thanks a ton in advance!
TLDR: Alpha male's favorite hen went broody and he's been kind of a dick ever since. What's up with that?

 

[MrFluffyandGirls]

Seems like Sam has decided to take charge.He's displaying his leadership skills. I'm not a fan of roosters because of aggression towards hens and people. Others seem to be able to have docile rooster but I personally have never had a nice sweet rooster that I've heard tales about.

My silkie roos are always so cute and nice until one day they turn into raging hormonal control freaks. At that point they gotta go.
I think Sam has crossed the bridge into mean nasty little roo land.

There are articles on how to manage roosters in a flock but for me it's easier just not to have them. Someone with success might chime in and give some pointers.

 

[Fluffy_Butt]

Seems like Sam has decided to take charge.He's displaying his leadership skills. I'm not a fan of roosters because of aggression towards hens and people. Others seem to be able to have docile rooster but I personally have never had a nice sweet rooster that I've heard tales about.

My silkie roos are always so cute and nice until one day they turn into raging hormonal control freaks. At that point they gotta go.
I think Sam has crossed the bridge into mean nasty little roo land.

There are articles on how to manage roosters in a flock but for me it's easier just not to have them. Someone with success might chime in and give some pointers.

Thanks for your reply. I'm still a huge rooster fan. I love watching their interactions with the girls (which have been mostly positive, and even now are just dotted with flares of meanness). Roosters have already got such a bad deal. When we get move to a little more land, one of my earliest goals is to form a bachelor flock with as many of the unwanted roos and I can (very seperate from my girls/mixed flock). It may backfire if I do it wrong, but I feel any failure will be on me and my inexperience. Anyway, rehoming etc is not an option for me. I adopted him in good faith and he's a part of the family.
I hope you have better luck with your boys!

 

[MarkJr]

Don’t tell him he’s sticking around for better or worse!!! My cockerel knows he’s one misstep from a stew pot. Keeps him honest.

 

[Fluffy_Butt]

Don’t tell him he’s sticking around for better or worse!!! My cockerel knows he’s one misstep from a stew pot. Keeps him honest.

Lol! I'm a terrible liar, but I've been generally keeping him in line by threatening to let the kids cuddle him when he's a jerk

 

[MrFluffyandGirls]

Thanks for your reply. I'm still a huge rooster fan. I love watching their interactions with the girls (which have been mostly positive, and even now are just dotted with flares of meanness). Roosters have already got such a bad deal. When we get move to a little more land, one of my earliest goals is to form a bachelor flock with as many of the unwanted roos and I can (very seperate from my girls/mixed flock). It may backfire if I do it wrong, but I feel any failure will be on me and my inexperience. Anyway, rehoming etc is not an option for me. I adopted him in good faith and he's a part of the family.
I hope you have better luck with your boys!

If he's causing damage to your hens you can separate the roosters from the hens and house them separate even with little space. You can remove him and put him in solitude if he wrecks too much havoc with the other boys and girls. I kept 2 roosters in a pen beside the girls at one point and the 2 asserted who was dominate and lived together fine until it was was time to make other plans for them.
Roosters can tear up a hen repeatedly mounting causing stress and sometimes injury that leads to infection. Bigger aggressive roos can actually decapitate hens heads and poke eyes out of children. Those beaks and spurs can be painful weapons. on the other hand roosters are beautiful to look at and enchanting to see herding the girls showing them food and shelter so I can see your admiration of them. Good luck your fellas!

 

[Fluffy_Butt]

Thanks! If Sam was displaying that level of aggression, I’d definitely separate them. They’re all in the same coop and get along fine there. I watched them closely for a while this morning, and it looks like Sam is mostly trying to herd them. He’s left Ghost and Mischief alone for the most part too. He’s still not quite himself, but I’m noticing subtle clues that I didn’t before. Learning process for us both I guess!

 

[birdlover2]

Are you planning to let your broody set on eggs or get chicks? Or are you trying to break her? If trying to break her do it quickly, if trying to get chicks, you could leave eggs and wait 21 days to see if she hatches some. You might also be able to buy some chicks to stick under her. The sooner the broodiness runs it's course or you break her from it, the sooner your roo will probably be happy again and stop bugging other hens. He had only one hen and now she's got her mind set on other things like raising kids and he's not happy about it lol.

 

[RW1984]

Truthfully I had 7 Roos in my flock of 39 birds.
I have 6 now.
I’d see one of the larger boys mount a hen and mate and the. My bantam rooster who was absolutely gorgeous, would try and do the same. He’s grab the same girl by the neck and get dragged around the run and end up pulling out feathers.
This happened very frequently. I kept telling him one day he’s gonna go.
I used him as live bait for a fox while he was in a cage and got one. So I let him live for a bit as a reward.
He was fine for a day or two and then BAM right back at it.
I know he was trying to mate but the big girls just weren’t having it and they’d run all the time getting their feathers pulled out.
I now have 6 roosters

 

[Fluffy_Butt]

Are you planning to let your broody set on eggs or get chicks? Or are you trying to break her? If trying to break her do it quickly, if trying to get chicks, you could leave eggs and wait 21 days to see if she hatches some. You might also be able to buy some chicks to stick under her. The sooner the broodiness runs it's course or you break her from it, the sooner your roo will probably be happy again and stop bugging other hens. He had only one hen and now she's got her mind set on other things like raising kids and he's not happy about it lol.

She’s sitting on 6 eggs and I’m going to check them this weekend to see if any are viable. If not, I’ll have to weigh the options. I suspected he was just unhappy with the situation since the timing was so suspicious. Thanks for your input!