Cockerel Issue

[LaFleche]

Great. Thank you. One more question, sorry for all the questions, if I ever want to have a rooster, how and when will I know if he is going to be a good rooster?

If any of your older hens gets broody, purchase some fertile hatching eggs of the breed you want to add to your flock and let the broody do her thing.

A cockerel that is hatched by a broody and raised in the flock will usually not get overboard harassing the hens later on.

 

[L0rraine]

I feel your pain with the one bad rooster.

For years we had one lovely bantam rooster at a time to nine or more hens. (With the exception of two or three silkie roos happy to be buddies in a bachelor pen). I was always in awe of how watchful and selfless the bantam roosters were with the hens - though they could be aggressive towards us humans, they were somehow forgiven. Mating seemed not crazy out of control. But when the last one died I didn’t feel that anxious to have another rooster. Until …, this Spring …, I ended up with a bunch of straight run chicks of various breeds. Half ended up being roosters - a mixture of English Orpingtons, Silkies, frizzles, Polish and an Appenzeller. They are for the most part lovely roosters for their breeds, and not too difficult in bachelor pens. EXCEPT ONE . He’s a big silver laced Polish and I have had to put him in his own smaller pen away from everybody. He’s hard on all the other roosters and also the hens (during accidental brief exposures). I’m not sure how aggressive he’d be to humans. I’m doubtful I’ll be able to re-home him, but my hope at this point is to let him free range with our ducks when I get them set up in our little pond area in a few weeks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Okay, I am willing to try but will keep an eye out. How long should I give it for things to settle down?

I've had cockerels mature enough by 5 months to become the dominant flock master and be accepted by all of the hens. I had one that took 11 months for the dominant hen to finally accept his dominance, that became fairly violent before she finally gave up. Most of mine make that transition around 7 months. Each chicken has it's own personality so each time can be different.

It's not just the cockerel, the hens have a lot to do with this too. Some hens are pretty willing to accept the male's dominance, some hens fight tooth and nail to maintain the dominant roll.

I've had cockerels hatched with the flock and raised with the flock since hatch go through this. Sometimes their behavior is pretty rough as they go through puberty, sometimes this entire process is pretty calm. I find that you don't get guarantees with the behaviors of living animals. Anything can happen.

 

[Crazychickenmama8]

If any of your older hens gets broody, purchase some fertile hatching eggs of the breed you want to add to your flock and let the broody do her thing.

A cockerel that is hatched by a broody and raised in the flock will usually not get overboard harassing the hens later on.

Ohhh that makes a lot of sense!! I did hatch him the the pullet together. I thought it would be the exact opposite. Thank you for the knowledge.

 

[L0rraine]

Ohhh that makes a lot of sense!! I did hatch him the the pullet together. I thought it would be the exact opposite. Thank you for the knowledge.

If any of your older hens gets broody, purchase some fertile hatching eggs of the breed you want to add to your flock and let the broody do her thing.

A cockerel that is hatched by a broody and raised in the flock will usually not get overboard harassing the hens later on.

This is an excellent idea to keep in mind. Thanks.