Bully rooster

[Topato]

This morning we heard a noise from our coop/run we hadn't heard before. Ran outside and saw our rooster who had cornered a pullet (18 weeks) and was attacking her. I believe he was trying to mate with her and when she refused to let that happen he got really aggressive. By the time I got out there she was on the ground not moving and he had not only taken the feathers out but had taken a big chunk off the back of her neck(>1"x2") and part of her head. She is now separated in her own smaller coop with vetericyn on. Now our other pullets won't come out or go near the the rooster.
I refuse to deal with this rooster. But have heard, if there is no rooster a hen can "take his place." My question is, does this always happen and is it as bad?
I feel that a dominant hen is much easier to deal with then a rooster. Thank you in advance, I appreciate all answers.

 

[DesertBird]

My cockerel is 16 weeks and is starting to do that - there's a great article or post I'll link to you in a minute to show him you're the boss. I tried it a bit with mine, and he was definitely shocked afterwards. Heard no more pullets screeching after that. My girls still go near him, but he is starting to pull out some neck feathers of one of them.

And with mine, (I have 2 groups - one is 5 and 1/2 months, the other is about 4 months and I'll be introducing them soon) I have another group of 6 BR's. They are all pullets, almost all laying, and one of them definitely thinks she's so dominant she's a rooster. She pecks anything that moves, is constantly ridiculously loud, and is mean as all heck. She's even got a huge comb over and wattle. If not for her laying eggs every day, I'd assume she was a strange looking rooster, without the rooster feathers. She's a bit hard to deal with, and pecks my ankles and feet when I walk through their little crowd or next to her, but she hasn't drawn blood yet. Definitely hates being picked up, but my 3 cockerel's don't mind being picked up. So, in some ways, she is harder to deal with than my boys, but they're still young - she could be better, only time will tell.

 

[azygous]

Is this "rooster" a cockerel or mature roo? Either way, this is unacceptable behavior, and if he's only a youngster, it's an indication of how he will behave in the future.

Cockerels who are aggressive towards humans can be disciplined and trained, but a cockerel that is a thug with pullets and hens is a matter of bad genetics and needs to be culled out of the gene pool.

It is not a given that a hen will step into the role if this rooster is removed from the flock. It only rarely happens, but there's no guarantee she will be gentle with the others. It depends on individual temperament.

 

[Nupe]

All cockerels are a bit rough starting out while they figure things out. The pullets won't have any of it until they're closer to POL so it will sound quite dramatic. Missing neck and back feathers is normal in this process. That said, holding another chicken down and drawing blood is totally unacceptable and I would get rid of him. Retirement home with dumplings would be my suggestion.

Depending on how many pullets you have, there can be squabbling issues but they will figure out their pecking order. With more than 10 females, I think a good rooster has a positive calming effect in the flock. Same with hens, though, it's normal to give a good thump to get a point across, holding down and drawing blood gets eviction.

 

[CiceroXY]

Basically a hen gets aggressive for eating first of the others, a rooster for mating (they don't care pretty much about food and let the hens eat first in general). I think I'd get rid of the roo (if i'm not interested in having fertile eggs) cause in my opinion a roo can be more harmful than a hen.

 

[Topato]

Thanks for your answers! The rooster in question is about a year and a half old. We have 8 hens/pullets with one rooster. He hasn't been bad with me but I'm not letting him doing that to another one. I also have a 1 and 4 year old always running around so I'm not taking any chances. Thanks again I appreciate it.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! I agree with everyone that he' needs to be dinner somewhere, that's totally unacceptable behavior. Nice roosters are wonderful, but he's not. Mary

 

[barn206]

My cockerel is 16 weeks and is starting to do that - there's a great article or post I'll link to you in a minute to show him you're the boss. I tried it a bit with mine, and he was definitely shocked afterwards. Heard no more pullets screeching after that. My girls still go near him, but he is starting to pull out some neck feathers of one of them.

And with mine, (I have 2 groups - one is 5 and 1/2 months, the other is about 4 months and I'll be introducing them soon) I have another group of 6 BR's. They are all pullets, almost all laying, and one of them definitely thinks she's so dominant she's a rooster. She pecks anything that moves, is constantly ridiculously loud, and is mean as all heck. She's even got a huge comb over and wattle. If not for her laying eggs every day, I'd assume she was a strange looking rooster, without the rooster feathers. She's a bit hard to deal with, and pecks my ankles and feet when I walk through their little crowd or next to her, but she hasn't drawn blood yet. Definitely hates being picked up, but my 3 cockerel's don't mind being picked up. So, in some ways, she is harder to deal with than my boys, but they're still young - she could be better, only time will tell.

Hi blockedrelic06
What age would you put young chicks in a coop with older chicks or vice a versa.. put older chickens to a younger flock. My question is what age can they defend themselves and is there a specific age to do this with young chickens( heritage breeds). 4 months seems like it might work?