Cockerel attacking pullet?!

[Godiva]

I have 7 pullets and a cockerel that are about 14+weeks old. They all hatched together and have been together since then. Today I heard a racket going on and the roo was chasing the pullet remorselessly and grabbing her by the head and trying to spur her!!? I have never seen a roo do this to a pullet? I had to take her out of the enclosure - there was no way I could catch the roo, will get him tonight. Has anyone else seen this happen? And what should I do? I am thinking of dining on roo and then putting her back in with the other pullets... I guess I could try putting her back with them and just supervise... At first I thought that maybe he was trying to mount her but he was giving her a beating. The roos I have had in the past have never been mean to the hens, they'll go for each other and sometimes the pullets will pick on each other a bit but never the roo go for the pullet. What do you think?

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Sounds like inept adolescent attempts to Do It. If the female won't stay still or the male can't figure out how to balance on top or really isn't sure what the little instinctual voice in his head is trying to say at *all*, it can be kind of like that.

Personally I would not worry too much and would expect it to settle down over the next few weeks/months as he clues in to better technique.

I am glad I'm not a hen though

Pat

 

[DTchickens]

i've seen a couple like this... breeding season. no worries. but afterwards they dont like to share feed. or anything. and if the hen wont let him breed her etc. He'll beat her. if they're young... give them a couple months to mature. afterwards he should be fine.

 

[Godiva]

The problem is they are in a chicken tractor and she has nowhere to run when he gets like that. I am afraid of having a badly hurt pullet or even a dead one... I guess he may have tried to mount her and she rebuffed him, she is a pretty dominant pullet. I still don't really know what to do - I would rather not risk her getting annihilated. Will he persist in attacking her or was it just in the heat of the moment? I guess I will try again tonight, put her in and see how it goes. But I think that if he persists in attacking her he is bound for the pot and I will try one of my nice cochin roos with them instead.

 

[Godiva]

OK, was reading the other post about the roo attacking the hens. I am going to try putting this hen back in with that flock tonight and see if they can figure it out. I think he is possibly trying to mount her and she is not wanting to have anything to do with it so he is attempting to show his dominance? Does that sound right? I think that maybe if this continues I will have to separate them until I have a bigger area for them to work thing out. Guess we'll just have to see.

 

[gritsar]

I agree with Pat. Sounds like he's ready to test the mating waters and the pullet isn't ready for that yet.
Don't know what you could do if they all in the tractor all the time without her being able to get away from him. If she had more space she would get better at avoiding him.
Once the pullet is getting close to the point of laying she won't fight it, she'll actually help him by squating and (sometimes) spreading her wings for him to stand on. At that stage it'll be over in five seconds without any fuss.

 

[Godiva]

Yup, I think you all are right. I put her back in with them and he was on her like a flash, but I don't think he quite knows what he wants to do and she has no clue either. I think I am going to separate them for the moment and try to come up with a bigger area for them to run in so there is less pressure. They are still quite a few weeks away from laying yet (my guess - since they are mixed breeds they may well start earlier than 20 weeks) Sigh, there is always something going on with the feathered clan nowadays! Not very peaceful at the moment. Oh well, he and his ladies are moving soon, that'll be one less flock to manage!

 

[SterlingAcres]

Aww he's just trying to get some.

 

[Laskaland]

Sounds like a little chicken lovin'

 

[rufus]

Chicken love is a rough and tumble affair. Not much romance involved.

Rufus