Doug the Jersey Giant Rooster?!

[Livewire]

So this is my first "official" post other than the NMI so...

We have 3 red sex links, 3 black sex links, 3 tetra tints and 3 Jersey Giants (and the Giants are HUGE!) and are all about 4 1/2 months old...
First off you can't tell the Giants apart so they are all named Lois. They look identical. However; one of them recently started crowing so....his name is Doug. Now I did want a rooster, but he does seem a bit overly aggressive? I was hoping one of our smaller breed or regular size chickens would be the rooster, but not the case...anyway he seems to hold em down and bite the necks and pluck the feathers?! is this normal? What is too much? I mean foreplay is important to set the mood, but...? Other than that our chickens seem healthy happy and normal, but every now and then we catch Doug terrorizing one of the girls and not sure what should if anything be done?

 

[Rich386]

There is an old saying I thought I would pass on.
Beware a hen that crows and or woman that whistles. LOL

 

[badweather]

my late husband used to tell me the same saying. He would say, A whistling woman and a crowing hen is a disgrace to both God and men.

 

[Rich386]

A very wise man indeed!

 

[Livewire]

well as it turns out all 3 of my Jersey Giants are (were) roosters...Doug I am sorry to say has moved on...as well as his brother Frank...so I'm hoping Carl will be a bit nicer to the ladies and restore the harmony within the flock...I didn't realize the other two were until Doug was out of the picture, and those two just fought it out and I couldnt have that...by the way, i hated to do it, and though my method seemed extremely quick and painless, when the deed has to be done...what are your methods of snuffing the rooster?

 

[chickadoodles]

well as it turns out all 3 of my Jersey Giants are (were) roosters...Doug I am sorry to say has moved on...as well as his brother Frank...so I'm hoping Carl will be a bit nicer to the ladies and restore the harmony within the flock...I didn't realize the other two were until Doug was out of the picture, and those two just fought it out and I couldnt have that...by the way, i hated to do it, and though my method seemed extremely quick and painless, when the deed has to be done...what are your methods of snuffing the rooster?

Livewire, Roosters have to grab the hen by the back of her neck to hold on to breed her. When the hens are young they make a big fuss because they don't understand. But they all get the routine down. And they will calm down.
I still have 8 roosters so I cannot answer your last question....

 

[Livewire]

Thanks for the reply. Still have 8 roosters? How many hens do you have with what kind of space? i have at least 12ft of space per chicken in the run...If it helps I felt terrible. But thought it was the right thing to do for the good of the flock. I thought it was what needed to be done. I had no idea people could successfully keep several roosters. Anyway, I will let em work it out and hope that it works and they can live it out in harmony.

 

[CAjerseychick]

Well we have a 12month old jersey giant Roo (the last surviving roo out of 3, our dog took care of the others).... He is also Huge, and our poor hens are barebacked (he doesnt pull out the feathers that I can tell but is so active they rub off) we have 10 hens and they free range over 2 acres.... I think its the size and "activity" level of the roo that causes the feather loss....

 

[chickadoodles]

Thanks for the reply. Still have 8 roosters? How many hens do you have with what kind of space? i have at least 12ft of space per chicken in the run...If it helps I felt terrible. But thought it was the right thing to do for the good of the flock. I thought it was what needed to be done. I had no idea people could successfully keep several roosters. Anyway, I will let em work it out and hope that it works and they can live it out in harmony.

I have 19 hens. But we are going to put all but 9 of the roosters in freezer camp pretty soon. lol I have a 750 sq ft run. The rule of thumb is usually one rooster per 10 hens, I believe.

 

[Livewire]

Hmm well as I said all along I want a rooster, but I'm not sure if the jersey giant is a good choice. He's the only JG we have left and he is a monster to the other chickens, as they are all of normal size...I don't want to see the hens barebacked, and am curious if I had a small Roo like a bantam if it would be better? Or am I just being over protective?

Well we have a 12month old jersey giant Roo (the last surviving roo out of 3, our dog took care of the others).... He is also Huge, and our poor hens are barebacked (he doesnt pull out the feathers that I can tell but is so active they rub off) we have 10 hens and they free range over 2 acres.... I think its the size and "activity" level of the roo that causes the feather loss....