Does mating ever get less brutal looking?

[Noble Rooster]

So my young rooster has recently started mounting our first hen to mature, and it seems pretty, well, rough. Since he's just starting out he doesn't have the smoothest moves just yet, and she seems surprised and terrified when it happens. (He is also twice as big as she is.) Will it eventually look like a all parties are consenting to the transaction, so to speak?

 

[Pyxis]

Generally it does get less awful. Young roosters are like teenagers and they are full of hormones and just getting the hang of things, and young hens aren't yet used to the idea of submitting for mating, so it can look pretty ugly. As the roosters get older, their hormones settle down and they become less crazy about mating. They dance for the hen, and the hen will squat to give the rooster the go ahead, and mating is entirely consensual. That said, there are some roosters that are just terrible to hens and always grab them and mate way too much and generally make the hens miserable. Those types of roosters need to go. My dominant rooster keeps the young ones in line and will not allow them to mate with a hen if she is squawking and putting up a fight. He will run right over and knock the juvenile right off. So it does usually get better, but a small percent of roosters never treat the hens well, and those should be separated or gotten rid of.

 

[azygous]

My advice is be patient. He'll perfect his moves, and over the next 18 months, his hormones will settle down so he won't be such a sex maniac. The hens also mature, and mating then become far more of a benign ritual. After a while, you will hardly notice it happening.

 

[Free Feather]

If you want us to tell you that she will not lose feathers, or the hens will not scream sometimes, or he will not tread and yank her head, you will not get it honest. It just helps if you have enough hens and he knows what he is doing.

 

[aart]

Yes, it should get better....... cockerels mature before pullets, it may take a few weeks or more for them all to figure it out.

As long as there's no blood or he is not unceasingly pursuing, them leave them to it.
Might help to have some 'out of line of sight' hiding places and/or places for the pullets to get up and away from the cockerel.

 

[Noble Rooster]

Thank you, all of this is very helpful. I figured they all have a learning curve but wasn't sure what the end result was going to look like. This is my first rooster so this aspect of chicken keeping is new to me. Luckily he's a sweet boy and a good roo so far, so I'm hopeful he'll be a gentleman about this too.