How long does it take for him to become master of the flock?
I've had a cockerel 5 months old be mature enough to do that with no real drama. That's really young. I had one that took until 11 months to manage that. With most of mine that is around 7 months but that can really vary. People tend to forget that the personality of the hens have a lot to do with this too. It is not always all on the male.
And hopefully when they're at war they don't get hurt much right?
That varies depending on the cockerel and hens. Usually with mine there is very little violence involved, though there is some forced mating. The hen runs and he chases her down. When he grabs her, usually on the head, she squats and he mates her. The head grab is part of the mating, the head grab is her signal to raise her tail out of the way so he can hit the target. Since no one is really at much risk of getting hurt I don't consider this violent. It's just the way they sort this type of thing out in chicken society.
Occasionally though a hen fights back, usually the head hen. They square off like a couple of roosters. Usually this doesn't last long, one quickly figures out they are better off running way than to keep fighting. But it can turn into a serious fight or one may get hurt before one decides to run away. They are trying to hurt each other.
I have seen (once) at the turnover where the head hen did not accept the cockerels dominance but she was defeated. For two days he would attack her at random times, usually pecking at her head. After two days of this behavior she accepted his dominance and they became best buddies. But if she had not had enough room to run away she could have easily been seriously hurt or killed.
I have never had one get seriously injured during this process but it could happen. I think it helps that I have a lot of room. If your space is tight the risk goes up. I usually see very little fighting, if any. But i do see some chasing and forced mating.
I've had a cockerel 5 months old be mature enough to do that with no real drama. That's really young. I had one that took until 11 months to manage that. With most of mine that is around 7 months but that can really vary. People tend to forget that the personality of the hens have a lot to do with this too. It is not always all on the male.
And hopefully when they're at war they don't get hurt much right?
That varies depending on the cockerel and hens. Usually with mine there is very little violence involved, though there is some forced mating. The hen runs and he chases her down. When he grabs her, usually on the head, she squats and he mates her. The head grab is part of the mating, the head grab is her signal to raise her tail out of the way so he can hit the target. Since no one is really at much risk of getting hurt I don't consider this violent. It's just the way they sort this type of thing out in chicken society.
Occasionally though a hen fights back, usually the head hen. They square off like a couple of roosters. Usually this doesn't last long, one quickly figures out they are better off running way than to keep fighting. But it can turn into a serious fight or one may get hurt before one decides to run away. They are trying to hurt each other.
I have seen (once) at the turnover where the head hen did not accept the cockerels dominance but she was defeated. For two days he would attack her at random times, usually pecking at her head. After two days of this behavior she accepted his dominance and they became best buddies. But if she had not had enough room to run away she could have easily been seriously hurt or killed.
I have never had one get seriously injured during this process but it could happen. I think it helps that I have a lot of room. If your space is tight the risk goes up. I usually see very little fighting, if any. But i do see some chasing and forced mating.
