how do you know if a rooster is being too rough?

[TTownChics]

I bought some chickens at the end of feb. 2 of them turned out to be roosters. We had them in 2 brooders. 4 and 4. The roosters wound up with 2 hens and then the others were all hens. When we put them outside, they still stayed in their groups for the most part. They are better with that now and seem to mingle more. One hen not from the rooster group "Peep" has always kinda stood up to the roosters for the other hens in her group. The roosters chased Peep's group off from time to time from treats or whatever it was they were interested in.

One rooster "Hawkeye" is definitely more dominant than the other. He has started to try to mount Peep and only Peep. Not any of the other hens. I'm assuming he is trying to mate. He grabs her neck and tries to do his thing.

How do we know when he is being too rough? She hasn't gotten hurt at all but I think it's not a coincidence that he picked her since she has stood up to him before. I don't want her to get hurt and I'm not sure what "normal" is.

Thanks for all the input and we are impatiently waiting for our first eggs!

I attached a pic of Peep, Hawkeye (white) and my other roo Cap (because he's a ham)

 

[Free Feather]

He will grab her, she will probably scream, and it is all going to look really bad to humans. It is rough if there is alot of blood or he is attacking randomly without mating. The more she resists, the worse it will be. He has to dominate all of the hens so they all know he is boss. It makes his job easier when they all listen to him, respect him, and does as he says when he wants to protect them and show them where to go and what is the best thing to do in nesting and eating.

 

[aart]

At near 4 months(I'm assuming they were day olds at the end of Feb) the cockerels are starting to flow with hormones......
.......and chicken mating is not pretty, depends on the chickens involved.

Cockerels sexually mature before pullets, they are clumsy when first mating and the pullets do not like it as they are not ready and will not submit.
Could be Peep is being approached because she is the first to mature, onset of lay is usually 18-24 weeks and they won't submit until their hormones tell them to)
....... or more likely because she is the dominant pullet.

Multiple cockerels may make one or both more aggressive, I'd suggest you get rid of one or both cockerels asap unless you have a specific reason to keep one.
At least have some wire dog crates or another enclosure ready, in case blood starts be drawn or things get too rambunctious.
The party is just ramping up and when things get ugly, they get ugly fast, like right now fast.

 

[TTownChics]

Thank you guys. We have decided to get rid of our roosters. :/