Help! Roo trying to kill the hens!

[Triplecross]

I purchased a trio of Buff Brahmas for my 13 year old son this May. They have been raised together and are all fine and healthy. My son said the rooster is attacking the hens and dragging them around by their necks. I told him the rooster is mating the hens. He didn't agree.

I had seen the roo mating one of his hens a few days ago and noticed he did take hold of her collar feathers a bit roughly. I figured it was normal. Now with my son very upset, I wanted to get a few opinions about this terrible mating scene.

Is it normal for Brahmas to be this way? My children have been around chickens with roosters all their lives, we have 2 other roosters in different coops with their girls.

Help me know if this is not okay and what I should do!

Thank you,
Dana

 

[cafarmgirl]

How old is this roo? Sometimes young roo's are pretty rough until they mature and gain some finesse. And if the hens are young they just may not be interested yet. Or he just may not be a good rooster. I don't have any tolerance at all for roosters who are overly rough on the hens. I give them a break when they are young and stupid but I do expect them to shape up with maturity lol. So I guess my answer is that if these are young birds, just reaching maturity then I'd maybe just keep a close eye on him. If they are adults, a year or older then I'd watch very carefully and if he's overly rough on them all the time you'll have to decide if you want to keep him. I wouldn't want to breed a bird with a poor temperament either.

 

[Triplecross]

Yes, they were hatched this May so 6 months old and just started to become "active".
Would you separate the rooster from the hens? I could put him in a dog crate in the coop and let the hens have the run of the coop. I don't know if this will "teach" the rooster anything or not though?

 

[BantamLover21]

Rough mating behavior is common for young roosters. Earlier this year, I had a White Wyandotte Bantam cockerel that was really mean to the hens. He would grab their feathers, wrench them around, and tear up their combs. So I isolated him for a while. Just recently, I began letting him see the hens again (he's about 10 months old now). Although the hens were not happy to see him (one in particular, a white bantam hen, hates impudent males and fights them if they don't stay out of her way), he is now acting gentlemanly. No bad mating behavior, just careful stalking of hens and climbing on them.

Unless your young rooster is injuring the hens (ripping out a lot of feathers, drawing blood, etc.), you could leave him in with them. In the coming months, he should get more "grown-up" in the way he acts around them. Or, you can isolate him in his own pen, and try introducing him later.

 

[Triplecross]

Thank you Cafarmgirl and Bantamlover21; your helps are greatly appreciated! I think I'll give him a few more days, check how the hens are fairing and then decide if I need to isolate him.