Hermaphadite chickens???

[footballcoachmiller]

I have 15 roosters but I have this one rooster ( a buff orp.) that all the other roosters attack and run him off as soon as i let them out in the morning. There will be 5 to 8 roosters pinning him to the ground and they act like they are mating with him. He is around 8 months old with large comb and wattles and has never laid an egg. I dont think i have ever heard him crow though.

 

[South Hill Chickens]

Wow. That is a LOT of roos. I have seen the alpha roo mount a lesser roo before in friends' flocks (being in the City I don't have any roos myself) and I always figured it was akin to dogs mounting each other as a display of dominance.

Then again, there are those octopus in the Pacific that mate male to male from time to time . . .

 

[jeremy]

I don't think it's very likely that you have a hermaphaditic roo... it's more likely that he is just the unfortunate one who got pushed to the bottom of the pecking order. So all the other "big boys" gang up on him to assert themselves.

Have you considered rehoming some of your roosters? Do you need that many?

 

[Cetawin]

He is low man on the totem pole. You need to lessen the numbers. He is not crowing because he does not want to draw attention to himself and compete with the other roos. They are not trying to mate him they are being dominate with him...they may eventually hurt him or worse.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

I think you have a lot of roos and this orpington guy is at the low end of the pecking order and is being molested as a result of his low status.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

I agree with all the posts. You have to do something about those numbers.