HELP! Everyone is picking on me!

[Restoration Ranch]

This is my first go at chickens. I hatched 14 chicks June 1st. They are almost 16 weeks now. I have I think half hens and half roosters. The roosters all chase this one so terribly and so it goes and hides in the coop all day. I’m having to provide food and water up there bc it doesn’t come down. I also take it out to free range in my garden away from everyone else. I think it’s a rooster bc very colorful and looks like one of my others that is a rooster but I have yet to see or hear it crow. This all started 2 weeks ago when our roosters decided to not be the sweet little chicks we hatched anymore. I know there’s pecking order and they’re instinct is to protect the flock but this is not a good happy chicken life to have to sit in the coop all day. The other roosters challenge each other but it’s quick and over. This one they chase and won’t stop and then it finally escapes into the coop. I did have a hen come out in the garden too and the one that everyone chases grabbed hold of her neck. So it made me think for sure it’s a rooster. It’s very sweet and gentle with me and my kids. So what do I do? We don’t plan to keep all the roosters but we’re trying to figure out which ones do you keep? We want a good protector for our flock, don’t want our girls harassed all day long, and we want our kids to be able to walk by and not be attacked.

 

[sourland]

It's a cockerel, and has been targeted by the other cockerels - in my experience this only becomes worse. The bad behavior on the part of your cockerels will only get worse - right now they are hormonal teen agers. If they were mine, they'd be finding new homes as soon as is possible.

 

[Restoration Ranch]

It's a cockerel, and has been targeted by the other cockerels - in my experience this only becomes worse. The bad behavior on the part of your cockerels will only get worse - right now they are hormonal teen agers. If they were mine, they'd be finding new homes as soon as is possible.

Thanks for your response. Now just to figure out which ones are the meanest and get rid of them. Or do you get rid of the weak one? We only planned to keep one or two roos anyway just deciding who goes and who stays.

 

[MTKitty]

I have nowhere near the depth of experience as other responders, but if I were in your shoes, I would use a process of elimination to identify my keepers. Once I identified a roo that needed to go, I’d pull him out of the flock and let the group dynamic settle a little, watching all the while for my next re-home.

Of course, that presumes you have a place to stash these extras out of the main pen until they go to their new home(s).