Do roosters go "on heat" ?

[emilyann]

My loan bantam rooster has been with my pekin hens for over a week now and he is still terrified of them

Im kind of moving on from wanting him to mate with them, Id just like him to not be scared of them now!
I was curious if Roosters go in heat like some other animals, or are they normally in the mood all the time?

Any tips on how I can macho this little guy up would be gratefully accepted.

Right now he has my sweetest pekin hen in an enclosure with him, and other 2 more bossy pekin hens in an attached enclosure, but not able to mingle.

He spends all day trying to be as far away from the hen as possible, its breaking my heart!

 

[Mahonri]

I have a roo like that too.

I'd love him to start getting a little aggresive... are there testosterone shots for roos?

 

[Kev]

Sounds like a hen beat up on him, or he had a history of being pretty low ranking at his home flock.. and is he very young still? Are his face, comb and wattles a deep, thick looking and very bright red?

I'd say for this rooster, it's probably best to have him by himself- in the pen or cage you are going to have him in for a long time.. the idea is for him to get comfortable and hopefully start to feel a little 'territorial'.. that is usually when they are a little braver and will not back off so quick from a bossy/challenging hen. If you have any small hen or pullet, does not have to be same breed.. and she is in top laying/breeding condition(in other words very receptive for a rooster).. put her in there, and hopefully the rooster will like what he sees very much.. once a rooster starts mating they usually become MUCH more eager about trying to mate.. sometimes even wimpy roosters will resort to sneaky tactics to get on 'mean hens' after they've somehow managed to mate a hen. If you hit on a hen he is not afraid of and will mate, keep her in with him, if she is very submissive to him.. she will help him get braver and basically learn a couple 'proper rooster behaviors'.

Sometimes a rooster will have a complete turn around after being settled in a pen of their own for a while and put any bossy hens in their place.. have used this trick with very young cockerels or peacocks- the big part is to introduce the girls to HIM not vice versa, and try to use meek/submissive girls- that is submissive to Roosters, not hens that are sweet with you. They can be sweet with you but are big 'rooster whuppers'.

If you decide to go by isolating him route, be patient. Let him settle, really.