Getting rid of my roo - how will my hens handle it?

[Wintersun]

Hello,

We have 5 hens and 1 roo (we started with 9 hens and lost 2 to predators and 2 died of unknown causes). He's so beautiful and is only mildly aggressive to me (pecks my boots if I pick up one of the hens) so we've kept him. But he does jump the poor hens constantly and now that we're down to 5 hens, I'm concerned about the hens well being.

If we find a good home for him, we are considering giving him away. What type of behavior should I expect from my 5 remaining hens? I don't want to cause more stress for them.

Thanks for your good advice.

 

[jak2002003]

Hello,  

We have 5 hens and 1 roo (we started with 9 hens and lost 2 to predators and 2 died of unknown causes).  He's so beautiful and is only mildly aggressive to me (pecks my boots if I pick up one of the hens) so we've kept him.  But he does jump the poor hens constantly and now that we're down to 5 hens, I'm concerned about the hens well being.  

If we find a good home for him, we are considering giving him away.  What type of behavior should I expect from my 5 remaining hens?  I don't want to cause more stress for them.

Thanks for your good advice.

Do the hens look beat up from him? Do they have missing feathers on their necks and backs?

If the hens look in good condition they will be fine.

It might be your rooster is in his 'teenage' stage where he will be full of hormones and very interested in the hens. If thats the case, in a couple more months he should calm right down.

I

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

There won't be too much stress. There will be a change in your flock dynamics, and the alpha hen might try to take over the rooster's role--she might even crow. Keep an eye on them, because a hen in charge can be meaner than a rooster. I do notice more nasty hen fights without a rooster, which is one of the main reasons I keep a few in the flock.

My question is whether you need to get rid of the rooster at all, since you like him. What does "constantly" mean? Are the hens running from him, or submitting and going on with their day? Are their backs worn bare, or just look a bit worn?

 

[Wintersun]

The hen that died yesterday was the hen he picked on most. Her back on one side wasn't completely but quiet thin and bare in spots. She was the largest of my hens, the most independent (in fact she slept alone away from the others). The other hens - some run from him, some submit. One other has some wear and tear on her back. When I say "constantly" I mean that I can randomly choose any time to watch them for 5 mins and I will invariably see him mount one. He also does this little intimidation dance sometimes, usually when a hen comes out of the nest box or coop to join the rest or first thing in the morning when they come out of the coop.

I do like him but I feel like I let Henrietta down by not getting rid of him sooner and protecting her and I don't want him picking on another one now. He watches out for them when they are free ranging and that gives me some comfort.

I also have considered adding some new hens, maybe a couple bantams, and I'm concerned that he would really beat up bantams.

 

[12321]

I bought a trio at an auction so I'm guessing they were at least a year old. The rooster was great for the first month or so, then he turned into a prick. He wasn't overly rough with the hens, but he did like one better than the other so she was beginning to loose feathers. One hen was also quite dominant over the other. I put the beatdown on the rooster several times and carried him around upside down but he just didn't get it. Unfortunately the neighbors cat got him before my clever did. The hens were pretty flighty for a week since they witnessed the attack, but after that, they calmed right down and became buddies. I never saw them have an issue since. I'd say they' were happier being single. We raised the roosters we have now and don't have any issues with them yet. If predators are an issue at your place, you might want to try a different roo, or like jak said give him a bit more time. But if the agressiveness continues or gets worse, get rid of him. Just make sure if you rehome him that you tell the new owners he attacks. You don't want to be responsible for someone loosing an eye.

 

[appps]

How old is he? Mine was a shocker and quite rough till about 8 months old. Now they just give him a peck if they are not in the mood and he leaves them be.

I'm curious about the new flock dynamics too as we are having to rehome ours too.

 

[Wintersun]

The Roo is almost a year old. He's not super aggressive. He had attempted to be aggressive a couple times but I went back at him and put him in his place. Now all he'll does is try to peck my boots. Who knows how he'd act with someone who didn't raise him though.

I'll give him a little bit more time and watch him with the hens but just this morning, i looked out the window and there he was jumping his second favorite who will now become his first favorite I'm sure.

 

[Ridgerunner]

In a normal chicken mating, the rooster will dance for the hen to signal his interest. That’s what you are calling his intimidation dance. It is a sign of a good rooster as opposed to one that ambushes a hen and just hops on. He lowers a wing and sort of circles around her a few steps. The hen squats. This spreads her body on the ground so the rooster’s weight gets spread through her entire body and her legs are not supporting that weight.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. This helps him get in the right position to hit the target and helps him keep his balance, but it also is her signal to raise her tail out of the way.

The rooster touches vents and hops off. The hen stands up, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake positions his sperm in the right place.

There are a lot of variations of this. Sometimes the rooster doesn’t dance. That’s a sign of immaturity and that he does not have the self-confidence to be a good flock master.

Sometimes the hen runs away. The rooster may ignore her and go about his other business. Or he may chase her. If he chases, she may very soon squat. She was just checking to see if he was really interested. The chase may last a while. She may get away or he may catch her. As long as she squats and he is not unusually rough, it’s all pretty normal and no damage is done. But for a proper mating, both the rooster and the hen need to do their part.

If the rooster and hens are still pretty young, think in terms of adolescents. The male is full of hormones, has no self-control, has not learned to behave like a mature make that takes care of his family, and has only two things on his mind, both being the sex act. One is just sex, but the mating behavior is not just about sex. It’s also about dominance. The one on the bottom accepts the dominance of the one on top.

For a flock master to do his job, the hens have to listen to him. He not only has a responsibility to keep the eggs fertile, he has to keep peace in the flock like breaking up fights, find them food, watch for and warn about danger, and all that. If the hens don’t accept his dominance he can’t do all that.

Adolescent pullets also have the hormones and lack of experience. For the flock to remain peaceful they need to do their part. Some mature fairly early but some mature a lot later. Or they may also want to be the dominant chicken in the flock and not accept his dominance. That can lead to resistance and some rough mating attempts. A lot of adolescent roosters have lost their heads because of immature adolescent pullets that did not fulfill their responsibilities in making a flock work. If they are given time, both males and females usually mature out of this behavior, but it can be stressful while they are maturing.

Anytime I separate the dominant rooster from the flock for a few minutes, the first act when he goes back is to mate a hen to demonstrate he is still dominant. If I remove a hen then put her back, he often does the same thing to her. First thing off the roosts in the morning or when I open the pop door to let them out, he usually mates a hen to show his dominance of the flock. I consider all this normal behavior.

Often when a hen lays an egg, comes off the nest and sings the egg song, the dominant rooster leaves the flock and goes to get her to take her back to the flock. He usually mates her first. This is a good way for the rooster to know which hen is laying eggs that need to be fertilized.

A few months ago I learned of a study that showed a lot of the feather loss might (not necessarily is always cause by, but might possibly) be caused by the hen having brittle feathers. They break easily. That is one reason some hens may show more feather loss from matings. It’s possible for the rooster to be a brute or just immature with bad technique, but it’s also possible it has very little to do with the rooster. I found if I permanently remove the hen that is having the feather loss problems and don’t allow her to breed, that type of thing does not re-occur in my flock. Some feather loss during mating, either on the back, tops of the wings, or back of her head where he grabs on is normal. It’s when the feathers get thin enough he can cut the skin it gets dangerous.

Something you might consider, especially if they are immature, is to trim the rooster’s claws to minimize the damage he does. Some people will want you to trim his spurs too, which you can do, but most of the time when this type of thing is going on, the spurs haven’t come in that well. I’m not talking about taking the claws or spurs all the way down to the quick. Just blunt them. Take the sharp points off. If you don’t get down into the quick, it will be like trimming your toenails. I use a Dremel tool with that wheel you use to cut metal but there are other techniques. That might reduce the damage until the rooster and hens mature enough so his technique gets better and the hens can do their part properly.

If you remove the rooster, what can you expect? They are living animals so I can’t give any guarantees, but what you are most likely to see is a shake-up in the pecking order. You are removing what is probably the dominant chicken (though if he is still immature a pullet or especially an older hen may actually be dominant). This readjustment may get fairly violent or it may go so smoothly you don’t even notice. Each flock has its own dynamics, depending in make-up and the personalities of the individual chickens.

One hen will become dominant. She may take on some of the duties of the dominant rooster, breaking up fights, watching for danger, finding food to share, any of those. Or she may not. She may start to crow. I’ve seen a dominant hen in a flock without a dominant rooster mate with the subservient hens to show her dominance, going so far as to touch vents. She did not do this nearly as often as a rooster but don’t be shocked if you see it. It doesn’t mean she’s twisted, just that she is the boss. I’ve seen a dominant hen knock an immature male off a willing hen or pullet if the immature male has not been able to dominate her.

You might see any of these behaviors. You might not see any of these behaviors. You might have a more peaceful flock without a rooster. You might have a more stressed flock without a rooster. They are living animals. No one can give you any guarantees about this.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

In a normal chicken mating, the rooster will dance for the hen to signal his interest. That’s what you are calling his intimidation dance. It is a sign of a good rooster as opposed to one that ambushes a hen and just hops on. He lowers a wing and sort of circles around her a few steps. The hen squats. This spreads her body on the ground so the rooster’s weight gets spread through her entire body and her legs are not supporting that weight.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. This helps him get in the right position to hit the target and helps him keep his balance, but it also is her signal to raise her tail out of the way.

The rooster touches vents and hops off. The hen stands up, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake positions his sperm in the right place.

There are a lot of variations of this. Sometimes the rooster doesn’t dance. That’s a sign of immaturity and that he does not have the self-confidence to be a good flock master.

Sometimes the hen runs away. The rooster may ignore her and go about his other business. Or he may chase her. If he chases, she may very soon squat. She was just checking to see if he was really interested. The chase may last a while. She may get away or he may catch her. As long as she squats and he is not unusually rough, it’s all pretty normal and no damage is done. But for a proper mating, both the rooster and the hen need to do their part.

If the rooster and hens are still pretty young, think in terms of adolescents. The male is full of hormones, has no self-control, has not learned to behave like a mature make that takes care of his family, and has only two things on his mind, both being the sex act. One is just sex, but the mating behavior is not just about sex. It’s also about dominance. The one on the bottom accepts the dominance of the one on top.

For a flock master to do his job, the hens have to listen to him. He not only has a responsibility to keep the eggs fertile, he has to keep peace in the flock like breaking up fights, find them food, watch for and warn about danger, and all that. If the hens don’t accept his dominance he can’t do all that.

Adolescent pullets also have the hormones and lack of experience. For the flock to remain peaceful they need to do their part. Some mature fairly early but some mature a lot later. Or they may also want to be the dominant chicken in the flock and not accept his dominance. That can lead to resistance and some rough mating attempts. A lot of adolescent roosters have lost their heads because of immature adolescent pullets that did not fulfill their responsibilities in making a flock work. If they are given time, both males and females usually mature out of this behavior, but it can be stressful while they are maturing.

Anytime I separate the dominant rooster from the flock for a few minutes, the first act when he goes back is to mate a hen to demonstrate he is still dominant. If I remove a hen then put her back, he often does the same thing to her. First thing off the roosts in the morning or when I open the pop door to let them out, he usually mates a hen to show his dominance of the flock. I consider all this normal behavior.

Often when a hen lays an egg, comes off the nest and sings the egg song, the dominant rooster leaves the flock and goes to get her to take her back to the flock. He usually mates her first. This is a good way for the rooster to know which hen is laying eggs that need to be fertilized.

A few months ago I learned of a study that showed a lot of the feather loss might (not necessarily is always cause by, but might possibly) be caused by the hen having brittle feathers. They break easily. That is one reason some hens may show more feather loss from matings. It’s possible for the rooster to be a brute or just immature with bad technique, but it’s also possible it has very little to do with the rooster. I found if I permanently remove the hen that is having the feather loss problems and don’t allow her to breed, that type of thing does not re-occur in my flock. Some feather loss during mating, either on the back, tops of the wings, or back of her head where he grabs on is normal. It’s when the feathers get thin enough he can cut the skin it gets dangerous.

Something you might consider, especially if they are immature, is to trim the rooster’s claws to minimize the damage he does. Some people will want you to trim his spurs too, which you can do, but most of the time when this type of thing is going on, the spurs haven’t come in that well. I’m not talking about taking the claws or spurs all the way down to the quick. Just blunt them. Take the sharp points off. If you don’t get down into the quick, it will be like trimming your toenails. I use a Dremel tool with that wheel you use to cut metal but there are other techniques. That might reduce the damage until the rooster and hens mature enough so his technique gets better and the hens can do their part properly.

If you remove the rooster, what can you expect? They are living animals so I can’t give any guarantees, but what you are most likely to see is a shake-up in the pecking order. You are removing what is probably the dominant chicken (though if he is still immature a pullet or especially an older hen may actually be dominant). This readjustment may get fairly violent or it may go so smoothly you don’t even notice. Each flock has its own dynamics, depending in make-up and the personalities of the individual chickens.

One hen will become dominant. She may take on some of the duties of the dominant rooster, breaking up fights, watching for danger, finding food to share, any of those. Or she may not. She may start to crow. I’ve seen a dominant hen in a flock without a dominant rooster mate with the subservient hens to show her dominance, going so far as to touch vents. She did not do this nearly as often as a rooster but don’t be shocked if you see it. It doesn’t mean she’s twisted, just that she is the boss. I’ve seen a dominant hen knock an immature male off a willing hen or pullet if the immature male has not been able to dominate her.

You might see any of these behaviors. You might not see any of these behaviors. You might have a more peaceful flock without a rooster. You might have a more stressed flock without a rooster. They are living animals. No one can give you any guarantees about this.

As usual, Ridgerunner has great information. X2 for all of the above.

I do not believe that your rooster caused your hen's death. From your description, I only see normal flock behaviors.

Roosters mate ALL THE TIME, and this is completely normal. Mating hens is their primary job. I have three roosters, and it's the time of the year when they are all thinking they might want to be the alpha rooster. So one will mate a hen, then another one will jump on top of her too, or knock the first one off and finish the job. At any given time in my flock, no matter where you look, there will be a rooster mating a hen.

When people on BYC talk about roosters that are overly aggressive with hens, we mean that roosters spur the hens and give them long cuts under their wings, or take chunks out of the comb. A roughening of feathers on the back of the head and the back of the hen's body is normal behavior and does not imply roughness.

After hearing more details, I think you're projecting human emotions onto your chicken's behavior. I don't mean that as a put-down, but you say you're new to chickens and anthropomorphizing animals is easy to do. Chickens don't feel picked on because a rooster mounts them. A rooster dancing for a chicken is being a good rooster and saying "get ready," not intimidating them. A chicken running away from the rooster while he chases her is testing the rooster, either his resolve for mating or his authority. When he chases her down and pecks her on the head, that's him asserting his authority and putting her back in line, and this is also his job, not abuse. And the hen certainly doesn't feel abused because she's put back in line. I think if you look at it from a chicken's point of view, you might feel better about your rooster.

 

[jak2002003]

The hen that died yesterday was the hen he picked on most.  Her back on one side wasn't completely but quiet thin and bare in spots.  She was the largest of my hens, the most independent (in fact she slept alone away from the others).  The other hens - some run from him, some submit.  One other has some wear and tear on her back.  When I say "constantly" I mean that I can randomly choose any time to watch them for 5 mins and I will invariably see him mount one.  He also does this little intimidation dance sometimes, usually when a hen comes out of the nest box or coop to join the rest or first thing in the morning when they come out of the coop.

I do like him but I feel like I let Henrietta down by not getting rid of him sooner and protecting her and I don't want him picking on another one now.  He watches out for them when they are free ranging and that gives me some comfort.  

I also have considered adding some new hens, maybe a couple bantams, and I'm concerned that he would really beat up bantams.  

This is normal chicken behaviour.

The hen will not have died because of the rooster, unless he actually beat her up so bad and mauled her and she lost lots of blood.

It sounds like she was sick to start out with - sick hens will hang out on their own and not mix with the flock.

Roosters will mate with the hens often during the day - its natural and normal.

the 'intimidation dance' is a dance of display to the hens. He is not being mean - it will impress the hens - he is just showing off his bright colours and how healthy and strong he is. Hens LIKE that!!!!

Concerning the bantams - often they are much more able to take care of themselves than normal sized hens. The are very nimble and can fly and run well - and easily get away form unwanted attention.

Your rooster sounds fine. But if you don't like seeing the chickens mating then you should get rid of him.

Chickens are not like people. The rooster won't take the hens out for a romantic dinner, buy them flowers and to see a movie first!!!!!