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KellyBogo

In the Brooder
Jul 4, 2022
7
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My name is Kelly. I am a first time chicken owner. I’m excited to be a part of a community that can teach me a thing or two.
We have 17 chickens (15 hens and 2 Roos). They are all 5 months old. My two Roos are aggressively mating ALL of the hens (no courting whatsoever…even chasing the hens down) and many times “tag teaming” the hens. It seems that every 5 minutes there is a hen screaming and trying to get away. I feel like this is not normal at all and my hens seem to be very stressed and scared. Some have injury to their combs.
Today I resorted to getting the two Roos out of the run in the morning, and letting them free range all day and away from the hens, whom I left inside the run. When the hens went into the coop for the night I let the Roos back in for bed.
The two Roos aggressively fought all day, perhaps they were stressed about being banished from the flock. My Roos are a Silkie and a Brahma. The Brahma is a beast and is clearly the head rooster.

My questions are:

Is this normal behavior?

Will it subside over time?

Is re-homing the best option for my Roos?

We did not want roosters to begin with. We do not want babies. We had some straight runs that we took a chance with. We have tried our best but I feel like it just isn’t working out.
 
Hi Kelly, welcome to BYC.
I love roosters, but if you don't want chicks it is best to rehome them. The girls are young and probably not ready to mate. The males are hormonal at that age. If you decide to keep one or both, I'd house them separately from the females, until they are around 7 months to a year old.
Good luck!
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
This is normal behavior for cockerels, not roosters. The pullets are not ready for this and you have one too many boys.
If you really want a rooster I would choose the one that is the gentlest, that tidbits the girls and is watchful and rehome the other. Then I would create a secure area within the coop and run to keep the one you want (both of them until you find a home for the second one) and leave him there until you see the girls going to him outside the pen and submitting.
After several weeks separated from the pullets, toss some high value treats in with him and see what he does. If he immediately tidbits and calls the girls over and they come to him, open his enclosure and let them interact. He will probably immediately jump a pullet or two but just see how things go that way. Having one less male around really does help a lot.
 

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