The sex link is over a year old. When he drops his wing he is not trying the fight the hens, he is trying to mate the hens. I’m assuming the hens are of laying age? The dropped wing is a good sign.
A good chicken mating goes like this:
The rooster drops his wing and circles a bit. That mating dance is to tell the hen he is interested.
The hen squats on the ground. That gets her body onto the ground so the weight of the rooster goes through her entire body and not just through her legs. That protects her legs and joints from damage.
The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head with his beak. That head grab not only gets him in the position to hit the target and helps him to keep his balance, it is also the signal to the hen to raise her tail out of the way so the target is exposed.
The rooster quickly touches vents and hops off. His part is done.
The hen stands up, fluffs her feathers and shakes. That shake is to get the sperm into the right container near where the egg yolk starts its journey through her internal egg making factory.
Not all matings go this way. Some roosters just jump the hen instead of dancing. That signals he does not have that much confidence in himself and does not impress the hens.
Sometimes the hen runs away instead of squatting. The rooster might ignore her if she runs. He might chase her. Some hens will quickly squat if he chases. She was just checking to see if he was serious. Sometimes she tries to get away. He may give up or he may keep chasing until he catches her and forces her. As long as the hen squats and he does not damage her, it is all OK, though it can be unsettling when the hen won’t submit.
For this to work the rooster needs to impress the girls and the girls need to do their part. Some roosters remain brutes forever. Some hens will never submit and do their part. These are rare in mature chickens but pretty common in immature birds. When the hormones first start flowing the adolescents don’t know what is going in and can’t control it very well. It can get fairly nasty with chasing and forcing. But eventually the boys and girls mature enough to do their part and get the technique right.
With a mature rooster like one a year old and laying hens old enough to be laying the best way to introduce a new rooster when there is not another rooster in the flock is to turn him loose with them. He will quickly mate with a few to show he is the boss and life is then good in the flock. You are dealing with living animals so no one can give you any guarantees, but mature chickens can usually handle this stuff pretty well. It’s those adolescents that you have to watch out for.
A good chicken mating goes like this:
The rooster drops his wing and circles a bit. That mating dance is to tell the hen he is interested.
The hen squats on the ground. That gets her body onto the ground so the weight of the rooster goes through her entire body and not just through her legs. That protects her legs and joints from damage.
The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head with his beak. That head grab not only gets him in the position to hit the target and helps him to keep his balance, it is also the signal to the hen to raise her tail out of the way so the target is exposed.
The rooster quickly touches vents and hops off. His part is done.
The hen stands up, fluffs her feathers and shakes. That shake is to get the sperm into the right container near where the egg yolk starts its journey through her internal egg making factory.
Not all matings go this way. Some roosters just jump the hen instead of dancing. That signals he does not have that much confidence in himself and does not impress the hens.
Sometimes the hen runs away instead of squatting. The rooster might ignore her if she runs. He might chase her. Some hens will quickly squat if he chases. She was just checking to see if he was serious. Sometimes she tries to get away. He may give up or he may keep chasing until he catches her and forces her. As long as the hen squats and he does not damage her, it is all OK, though it can be unsettling when the hen won’t submit.
For this to work the rooster needs to impress the girls and the girls need to do their part. Some roosters remain brutes forever. Some hens will never submit and do their part. These are rare in mature chickens but pretty common in immature birds. When the hormones first start flowing the adolescents don’t know what is going in and can’t control it very well. It can get fairly nasty with chasing and forcing. But eventually the boys and girls mature enough to do their part and get the technique right.
With a mature rooster like one a year old and laying hens old enough to be laying the best way to introduce a new rooster when there is not another rooster in the flock is to turn him loose with them. He will quickly mate with a few to show he is the boss and life is then good in the flock. You are dealing with living animals so no one can give you any guarantees, but mature chickens can usually handle this stuff pretty well. It’s those adolescents that you have to watch out for.
