Increasingly Aggressive Rooster

[JoeInPA]

I have 5 chickens, 4 pullets and 1 rooster. They are now at 25-30 weeks of age and pretty much full grown. Still none laying eggs. The rooster has always been sort of at the top of the pecking order but mostly stays to himself. He's never been aggressive towards me or any other humans. But he is now getting to be a bit of bully to the other chickens. Its seems like he's worse in the morning but it getting worse throughout the day.

In the morning he won't let certain birds out of the coop and he has to be the first one to the feeder and won't let the others get to the feeder for a few minutes. Then occasionally he'll chase other birds around and occasionally give them a hard peck. Usually once a day or so I throw some scratch grains in the run as a treat and three of my hens usually come running as soon as I open the gate. I usually let them eat some out my hand. But recently he won't let one or all of them approach me. Then if I throw a few handfuls of grain into the run, he hogs it all and chases the others away if they try to eat it.

I really like how beautiful he is and he's not aggressive towards people, and I love his crowing (though my neighbors probably don't) but I'm wondering if he may need to go. This is my first year with chickens and I dont know enough about chicken behavior. What do you guys think?


This picture is a couple months old, he's a bit bigger now.

 

[sourland]

I'd add another feeder some distance away from the first. He's at his teen aged hormonal stage, and not certain about how to handle things. Sometimes removing such a cockerel from the flock until he and the pullets mature helps. I'd monitor closely to make sure that the aggressiveness does not escalate.

 

[JoeInPA]

A second feeder sounds like a good idea. I'm monitoring him closely. Heres a few pictures of him today.

 

[bobbi-j]

What you have is a cockerel who is coming into sexual maturity. His little chicken brain isn't quite sure how to handle the influx of hormones. Your pullets are likely to mature more slowly than him, so they're going to be resistant to his "attentions" for a while. He is beautiful and gets bonus points for not being aggressive to people (yet - I'd still keep an eye on him). One thing you could do is separate him for a few months until your pullets are laying. Another thing to consider would be making sure they have enough room and hiding places to get away from him when they need to. Sourland's suggestion of a second feeder is an excellent idea.

 

[Folly's place]

All good ideas already. Cockerels are easier to raise when they have adult hens and a rooster to squelch their little egos a bit, and demonstrate proper behavior. Cockerels like yours, who haven't got adults to manage them, may do fine, but can be too pushy for a while.
So far he's not human aggressive, and hasn't injured anyone, so give him more time, and give the pullets extra feeders and out-of-sight places to avoid him.
Mary

 

[aart]

As long as no blood is drawn, and none are being pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, I'd let them work it out.
More feed/water stations and some out of sight 'hiding' places might help.

 

[Shadrach]

I have 5 chickens, 4 pullets and 1 rooster. They are now at 25-30 weeks of age and pretty much full grown. Still none laying eggs. The rooster has always been sort of at the top of the pecking order but mostly stays to himself. He's never been aggressive towards me or any other humans. But he is now getting to be a bit of bully to the other chickens. Its seems like he's worse in the morning but it getting worse throughout the day.

In the morning he won't let certain birds out of the coop and he has to be the first one to the feeder and won't let the others get to the feeder for a few minutes. Then occasionally he'll chase other birds around and occasionally give them a hard peck. Usually once a day or so I throw some scratch grains in the run as a treat and three of my hens usually come running as soon as I open the gate. I usually let them eat some out my hand. But recently he won't let one or all of them approach me. Then if I throw a few handfuls of grain into the run, he hogs it all and chases the others away if they try to eat it.

I really like how beautiful he is and he's not aggressive towards people, and I love his crowing (though my neighbors probably don't) but I'm wondering if he may need to go. This is my first year with chickens and I dont know enough about chicken behavior. What do you guys think?


This picture is a couple months old, he's a bit bigger now.
View attachment 2000730

It will all change once your pullets start laying eggs.
There is no incentive for a cockerel to feed hens that don't lay eggs. A bit brutal but it is that simple. Once they start to lay eggs then his behaviour will change.
It will unfortunately be at that time that he may become aggressive towards you and other humans. It can all be avioded or dealt with in non terminal ways if you are prepared to put some work in.
This article is a bit lengthy but should provided you with some insight into why he behaves the way he does. If you can understand why then your options of how to deal with him should increase.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

 

[JoeInPA]

As long as no blood is drawn, and none are being pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, I'd let them work it out.
More feed/water stations and some out of sight 'hiding' places might help.

Definitely no blood being drawn, he'd have been gone already if I was at that point. I have 84 square feet in the run divided into two sections, so there is plenty of space for them to get away from each other. And they can also go in and out of the coop as they please during the day so long as the rooster isn't playing gatekeeper. Hopefully the hens start laying soon and that will alleviate some of the tension.

I also have some coop and run expansion plans for this spring. I have some preliminary drawings made up, I'll start a separate thread on them.

 

[Folly's place]

I love having roosters, but there are good, bad, and ugly individuals that turn up, and while it sounds okay for now, do be ready with a Plan B if things change.
Mary

 

[Acre4Me]

Sounds pretty typical. The main things have been addressed: more feed stations, monitor for blood being drawn, wait for egg production which should be not much longer now that days are lengthening. The only other thing I’d keep an eye on is his policing the entrance to the coop. We’ve seen this before and if one hen in particular is targeted, it can turn ugly. I’m a little surprised he’s not even trying to woo the girls at all- even tidbitting a little. Maybe he’ll come into his own as a good flock leader - I hope so.

our first year it was a bit rough, we had 2 males same age but one matured faster than the other so naturally was the flock leader. Although he seemed to be a good flock leader, he unfortunately decided to become aggressive to our tween, so he was sold. The remaining male is pretty good flock leader. We have 3 males younger than flock leader: 2 that are 5 months, one that is 8 months. Their development is definitely shaped by the mature flock rooster and the various ages hens and pullets, and it is going much better now that they have a hierarchy to teach them how to act in their chicken world. Spouse and I were giggling one day bc one 5 month old male was desperate for a little action, but with two older males, was trying to attract the girls attention but not the males attention ... he was fake tidbitting...using little wood bits...girls would come over, curious about his tidbitting noises, but turn tail and leave when they saw nothing of interest being offered. Then, invariably, the main rooster would head him off and chase him away.