Hens attacking while rooster mates

[dskowron]

We have an Ayam Cimani rooster who takes care of his flock of 5 Australorpes, one Wyandotte and one EE. Whenever he mates with one of the Aussies, the Wyandotte attacks her viciously while the short mating ritual takes place. And SHE gets attacked by the EE whenever the roo is on her. I have not seen one of the Aussies attack another Aussie during the ritual. The Aussies are very gentle and will let me pick them up. The others are not like this.

Why the attacks during mating?

 

[thecatumbrella]

If I pick up one of my birds, then set them back down, any nearby flockmate will come peck them on the head. Same if I need to do a health check and hold one in my lap.

Chickens take cheap shots. Real brave of them to do it while the other one is getting mated, right?

 

[dskowron]

As much as I really enjoy raising them, chickens kinda suck in some ways - this being one of them.

 

[thecatumbrella]

As much as I really enjoy raising them, chickens kinda suck in some ways - this being one of them.

I hear you. They're like nature's drama queens.

 

[Altairsky]

If I pick up one of my birds, then set them back down, any nearby flockmate will come peck them on the head.

Wow... My flock must be made of saints. The other night I was baffled to see that my bachelor flock and my main flock merged and they were all roosting together. They're so peaceful I don't have the urge to cull the extra males anymore.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Why the attacks during mating?

How old are the different chickens? That could be very instructive.

To me, this sounds like the male is still a cockerel and the EE and Wyandotte are dominant hens. The Australorp accept his dominance and willingly mate him. The other two don't and interrupt him when he tries to mate. I would not be surprised that he has to force the Wyandotte when he tries to mate her.

What I normally see when a dominant hen interferes is that she knocks the cockerel off, not that she attacks the pullet or hen being mated. But basically it is the kind of stuff you see when a cockerel is maturing into a rooster and one or two hens isn't ready for that.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Wow... My flock must be made of saints. The other night I was baffled to see that my bachelor flock and my main flock merged and they were all roosting together. They're so peaceful I don't have the urge to cull the extra males anymore.

Once in a while, I go through a period where everyone is gentle and gets along. It’s like a dream!

 

[dskowron]

How old are the different chickens? That could be very instructive.

To me, this sounds like the male is still a cockerel and the EE and Wyandotte are dominant hens. The Australorp accept his dominance and willingly mate him. The other two don't and interrupt him when he tries to mate. I would not be surprised that he has to force the Wyandotte when he tries to mate her.

What I normally see when a dominant hen interferes is that she knocks the cockerel off, not that she attacks the pullet or hen being mated. But basically it is the kind of stuff you see when a cockerel is maturing into a rooster and one or two hens isn't ready for that.

The roo is 3 and the Aussies are 6 months or so and just now coming into lay. The other two hens are 3 or so. When the roo mates the Wyandotte the EE pecks her head while he's on her. I have not seen him on the EE but he probably gets her too. The flock I had before adding the Aussies was getting low on members - just the roo and the other two hens. Wyandotte was once the alpha girl but ended up on the bottom before I added the Aussies.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Not what I expected. I have not seen that specific behavior with my flock but that doesn't mean much. My guess is that they are undergoing a change in pecking order with the pullets just starting to lay so the older ones are jealously guarding their positions. You might see some squabbling as they sort it out but it probably won't be very bad.

Good luck and congratulations on the extra eggs.

 

[dskowron]

Not what I expected. I have not seen that specific behavior with my flock but that doesn't mean much. My guess is that they are undergoing a change in pecking order with the pullets just starting to lay so the older ones are jealously guarding their positions. You might see some squabbling as they sort it out but it probably won't be very bad.

Good luck and congratulations on the extra eggs.

Thanks! So far the extra eggs are quite small, but they'll get bigger. Ace, the pup in my avatar pic sure loves them! He gets one every morning.