Do "gentleman" roos exist?

[themenagerie]

I have two roosters to 20 hens, should be a good ratio. One Roo is a huge 10 plus pound Orpington, the other is an average size Welsummer. They're both fairly decent to people, one has needed a couple reminders to be respectful, but he came around. I'm really starting to feel sorry for my hens. The submissive ones are completely bald on their backs, it seems like they're mated multiple times a day by both Roos, I've had to treat several hens for deep cuts. I've already clipped spurs on both roos. . The others spend their days running away from the roos, I have some with torn, bloody combs from the tug of war that goes on when they say NO and Roo says yes. I have a blind hen who they seem to be particularly fond of and they're quite brutal while performing their business. I really wanted Roos, but I'm wondering now why people bother with them. Is there such a thing as a non-violent Roo? Are my expectations too high? For now I'm going to toss them out of the enclosure during the daytime hours so at least the hens get a reprieve for a bit.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

There are definitely "gentle" roos out there. I have one right now who is just a total sweetheart to both humans AND his hens. He is a bantam modern though and while he does try to mate with the larger girls, they just sort of tolerate him and move on. LOL

The other roo I had that was a total sweetie was a silkie/jap bantam mix. He was by far the most gentle rooster. He was always so caring to his hens. Never ate before they all got a bite, and I never saw him chasing after the hens. They willing let him mate with them.

My jap bantam was also very sweet. I've actually had good luck with bantam roos in with my standard hens. Some roosters are just more "active" with the girls than others. My welsummer I had was a total wimp and I don't think he was respected enough by the hens to EVER mate. He was just way too low on the totem pole. I had a RIR roo recently who was decent with the hens, but nasty to me. My favorite standard rooster was a turken named Ichabod. He was very silly looking, but very nice with my girls. He'd also let me pick him up and he'd fall asleep in my lap.

You particular roosters may just be too large or too active for your girls. They are also picking on the blind hen because she can't see to get away. Makes it real easy for the roosters to just grab her and then she doesn't have much of a choice. Don't give up though. There are certainly nice roos out there!

 

[sourland]

The blind hen is an easy target, and it would be humane to provide her a separate place. Much of what you describe is normal 'wear and tear' from mating. Very large roosters because of their weight and clumsiness are harder on the hens.

 

[donrae]

Pull one rooster out and see how things go. The ten to one is for optimal fertility, not necessarily flock harmony. Roosters are often competative maters, meaning if one starts to mate the other one joins in. You might need to have each roo spend a week or so away from the flock and see which works best to keep with the ladies.

I've not had bare backs, torn combs or cuts at all except when I had too many roos and they were too confined and the hens had no escape. I also had one roo who stalked specific hens to the point where they did nothing but hide from him and run screaming when he found them.

He tasted like chicken.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

I have a flock of about 8 hens right now, and I have about 5 roosters. Everyone get alone really well, and the hens aren't bald. It really depends on the roosters. My roosters are very mellow though, not breeding maniacs.

 

[roosterT]

I can understand what type of rooster you want. Get a Oriental Game Rooster. The perfect roo but it will fight your other roosters and might injure them badly.