How to handle young chicken mating? 9 out of 10 times I want to cry.

[Raptorchick]

Hi Tslauson I went through a similar situation with my first chicks, thought I might put in my two cents...
I had a big rir cockerel, that was my brother's favorite bird, but he was quite rude. I looked all over these forums for rooster behaviour advise. I would pick him up and walk with him every time I entered the coop, and treats seemed to help. But my hens were getting injured. I went on Etsy and bought chicken jackets, and I also tried shaving/dulling his spurs (the quick is longer than in other animal claws, it wasn't worthwhile). The jackets protected their feathers, but he wounded their sides. I didnt realize until I picked up a hen that had a huge gaping hole in her skin under her wing, then I was done. I separated him, and prepared myself for harvesting, but he got really lucky when a good heart on craigslist said they could give my brothers bird a coop of his own. We still visit him sometimes lol. Hope this helps, it's always a tough decision when they hit that teen stage :/

 

[Ridgerunner]

So all of my chickens were born on 4/1/18. We just got our first eggs Saturday and there was 2. We have been getting 1 a day now. I know it's one of our leghorns. My rooster is a RIR. And was held a lot of a chick. But the passed few weeks. He has grown and now has a good crow. But he has also starting mating. Most times its pretty violent and my hens and screaming some have blood and there are feather all over my yard. He no longer let's my girls hold the hens unless I'm there to block him.
Should every time look like chicken rape?
Second concern: I have 2 white Cochins
The rooster does not mate with these 2. And they are super bossy. I see them picking on other hens and I have to yell at them to stop or chase them. Today I noticed one of them crowing and "she did it a few times. Later that night I saw her mount and mate just like the rooster. Could she be he?

You've sparked some interesting debate on here, that often happens. You can get a lot of different opinions, but understand they are mostly opinions,including what I say. Different people have different experiences, we all have different goals, set-ups flock make-ups, management techniques, climates, and many other things. What works for some just does not work for others. So expect different opinions. I'll give you mine based on my experiences.

You do not have hens and roosters, you have pullets and cockerels around 18 to 19 weeks old. Those are totally different to mature hens and roosters. The pullets do not yet know how to act as mature hens. The cockerels are so hyped up on hormones they have very little, if any, control over themselves. At that age the mating act is not usually not about sex, it is about dominance. The chicken on the bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. Sometimes it is not even the mating act, they jut beat each other up to establish dominance.

When you get a flock of mature birds, this behavior generally calms down. The roosters have established dominance so they don't have to force. The hens know their dominance position and accept the rooster. But getting to that point an be really rough. As someone on here once said watching cockerels and pullets go through this phase can be rough on the faint-hearted.

So should every time look like chicken rape? Not once they are mature but until they mature it just might. Since your pullets are being hurt, I'd separate him now. I raise a lot of cockerels and pullets with the flock most years. Usually it is not too bad. But every now and then it does get bad so the cockerels go to my grow-out pen until it is time to butcher.

As to your second question it sure sounds like you have at least one Cochin cockerel. Can you get some photos of each. A shot of the head showing the comb and wattles is really helpful. A second shot of each showing legs, posture, and general configuration is also good. At that age it is likely the saddle and hackle feathers are starting to look pointy so a shot where we could see them might be good.

What are your goals for males? The only real reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Everything else is personal preference. Personal preference is strong. Some people would not have a flock without a rooster, whether they want fertile eggs or not. Others are extremely glad to not have any roosters around. I try to suggest you keep as few males as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems with more roosters, but that problems are more likely the more roosters (or males if cockerels) you have. For many people the correct answer could be none.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

You've sparked some interesting debate on here, that often happens. You can get a lot of different opinions, but understand they are mostly opinions,including what I say. Different people have different experiences, we all have different goals, set-ups flock make-ups, management techniques, climates, and many other things. What works for some just does not work for others. So expect different opinions. I'll give you mine based on my experiences.

You do not have hens and roosters, you have pullets and cockerels around 18 to 19 weeks old. Those are totally different to mature hens and roosters. The pullets do not yet know how to act as mature hens. The cockerels are so hyped up on hormones they have very little, if any, control over themselves. At that age the mating act is not usually not about sex, it is about dominance. The chicken on the bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. Sometimes it is not even the mating act, they jut beat each other up to establish dominance.

When you get a flock of mature birds, this behavior generally calms down. The roosters have established dominance so they don't have to force. The hens know their dominance position and accept the rooster. But getting to that point an be really rough. As someone on here once said watching cockerels and pullets go through this phase can be rough on the faint-hearted.

So should every time look like chicken rape? Not once they are mature but until they mature it just might. Since your pullets are being hurt, I'd separate him now. I raise a lot of cockerels and pullets with the flock most years. Usually it is not too bad. But every now and then it does get bad so the cockerels go to my grow-out pen until it is time to butcher.

As to your second question it sure sounds like you have at least one Cochin cockerel. Can you get some photos of each. A shot of the head showing the comb and wattles is really helpful. A second shot of each showing legs, posture, and general configuration is also good. At that age it is likely the saddle and hackle feathers are starting to look pointy so a shot where we could see them might be good.

What are your goals for males? The only real reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Everything else is personal preference. Personal preference is strong. Some people would not have a flock without a rooster, whether they want fertile eggs or not. Others are extremely glad to not have any roosters around. I try to suggest you keep as few males as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems with more roosters, but that problems are more likely the more roosters (or males if cockerels) you have. For many people the correct answer could be none.

Great post!!!

They started a thread about the cochins here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/beautiful-twin-white-cochins.1268160/

 

[PirateGirl]

I just want to add that before you make any drastic, permanent, irreversible decisions to try and be patient and wait a few more months. I noticed that with both my chickens and ducks that the flock dynamics change as the birds reach maturity. Not all the birds hit sexual maturity at exactly the same time so it takes a little while for things to shake out and settle down. You will have a better idea of what you are looking at in terms of behavior and potential problems when ALL birds in your flock are sexually mature. Good luck.

Also as another member mentioned, the hens belong to your cockerel. Likewise, my duck hens belong to my drake. He did not accept them at first and when the ducklings were young they needed me, but now that he has accepted them into his flock, I accept that they are no longer mine and I no longer handle the ducklings, the drake looks after them now. I mention this because there are different ways of dealing with how the males in our flocks behave, some methods involve trying to change the behavior of the rooster/drake and others involve changing the behavior of the humans (and some are a mix of both). You must decide your goals in terms of your relationship with your flock and what you want the relationship of the rooster to be with your flock and you will figure out what is best for your situation.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

There can be a lot of drama when the cockerels are maturing and acting 'stupid', with no adult hens or roosters to educate them and make them more polite. You have at least two cockerels, and how many pullets? There shouldn't be any injuries occurring out there; see who's being hurt, and who the culprit is, and remove that bird, at least for a while, if not for good.
This year, for your comfort, you may want to remove any cockerels that turn up. Next year, with mature hens, and more experience, a few new chicks and a nice cockerel may work out better for everyone.
Mary

Some of the biggest jerks are young roos who have matured along with their siblings. They have no respect for their young flock mates.

I agree that having a young roo introduced to mature hens is a much better scenario, especially if that roo was broody raised and then together returned to the flock.

The old mams don't take no guff off the young roo and he has to learn how to woo them properly.

At any rate, there should never be blood and feathers drawn. It is normal for a hen to have some wear patterns from mating, but she shouldn't be thrown to the ground, mauled and pounded upon.

That is an immature rooster with overly aggressive behaviors towards hens. Flock dynamics can change that as mentioned above. Otherwise, rehome.

Challenging the kids is absolutely not okay. It's not a popular thought by some, but after many years of raising hens, pullets, cockerals, and roosters, I have repeatedly seen the good guys are that way from birth. The middle of the road can be conditioned. The overly aggressive remain jerks until the soup pot. Don't pass your headache onto an unsuspecting owner.

LofMc

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

If a rooster starts attacking that means something went wrong in the raising of that bird that made it think that people are something they should fight. I don't belong in the pecking order. I shouldn't be petting roosters and making them too familiar with me. They should be animals and I should be the caretaker. All roosters should move off, not come towards me.

I don't have human aggressive roosters ever. If I did it would get butchered pretty quickly. I wouldn't try to fix the problem because it was a learned or inherited behavior and it won't stop. Roosters often are driven completely by their hormones those first few years. Eventually they become more responsible as they mature and those hormones even out.

I remove young roosters that are harassing the hens at times until they grow out of those behaviors. Aggression towards people they never grow out of. I have yet to read a post where it has worked. Mostly the posts end with "I kicked it good and now it stays away". I'd rather butcher than abuse.

Chickens recently have become "pets". I personally still think of them as livestock. I was farm raised, and am still country. Aggressive male livestock should never be tolerated, nor bred from. People are mudding the waters between livestock and pets with chickens. No one would tolerate a dog that attacked every time you came near it. No one should tolerate that behavior out of a rooster either. Raise the puppy and rooster right and you don't need to worry about it.

My 2 cents worth.

 

[Shadrach]

MY one pence worth.

I spent most of my childhood on a farm.
The farm had cattle, pigs, mink, chickens, ducks, geese and goats.
I can still remember being taken around the farm by the farm manager who worked for my uncle.
Most of the chickens were in a large shed, kept in tiny cages with automated feed e.t.c.
I was allowed to go in there.
There was a row of pig sties with sows for breeding in them.
The farm manager took hold of my ear and twisted it as he said “don’t you ever go in those sties boy, them sows will kill you” It took three men to get a sow out of the sty.
There were a few free range hens with a cock. Once again I got told with the ear twist that I was to steer clear of the cock as the farm manger said ‘he’s mean boy and he don’t like children.”
The mink were kept in banks of wire cages. They sometimes chewed through the wire to get at another mink. When you fed the mink or needed to move one you wore steel mesh lined gauntlets. The farm manager had two finger tips missing from mink bites.
There was a prize bull. He lived in a fenced field on his own until more calves were wanted. Again I got the ear treatment and was told never to go in with the bull.
I didn’t want to go near the geese and gave them a very wide berth.

It seems farms may have been different back then.

 

[RodNTN]

I always separate my cockerels from the hens until they're mature enough to treat the girls right.

 

[Folly's place]

Another anecdote from my farm;;last year the Chantecler cockerel that I kept as a second rooster ended up in my freezer instead. He was never human aggressive, but too aggressive with flockmates, including mature hens. he should have been more respectful towards them, at least. Properly socialized in the flock, his behavior was unacceptable, IMO, and he wasn't going to participate in the gene pool here.
Many cockerels are hatched, and very few get to reproduce!
Mary

 

[TheLittleFarm18]

For what it worth...my roo (unexpected, thought I got l girls) was really sweet in the begybegin, then turned into a "teenage" boy that needed to learn manners. Once the hens started to except his advances things calmed way down. It was pretty sad to see the girls try and fight him at first. The girls eventually caught up and know it's peaceful breeding and actually nice to see them squat then shake after. It should get better once everyone on the same page. Good luck