Is this normal rooster behavior??

[KDrake]

Hi all!
We have 13 chickens - were all supposed to be pullets, but ended up with 2 roosters. They range from 15-17 weeks old. We like to sit in the coop at night and observe their behavior.
Tonight we were watching them get situated on their roosts. Our BLRW rooster was the first one up on the roost and he pecked every hen that came near him until she got down. He did this several times. Our Welsummer rooster (who seems to be in charge) pecked him when he saw him pick on the girls. The BLRW roo stopped pecking after this happened and behaved himself better.
Is this normal? I'm a little concerned after seeing him be mean to the hens! Both our boys are sweet to us and have never tried anything. It also might be important to add that both boys were trying to mount the girls shortly before bedtime.
Thoughts?

 

[centrarchid]

The cockerels are enforcing their positions in pecking with respect to those that may be a challenger. You do not want to be a subordinate acting aggressively near a superior as that can get you looking more like a challenger.

 

[50-45-1]

I do the same thing. Go out to the coop, flip my feed bucket over and just watch them. Sometimes i take my morning coffe out drag the lawn chair over and just take it all in, morning, birds, sunshine. A great way to start the day.
I think your two roosters may be having a little competion. The fact that one behaved after being corrected by the other is a good sign.
I think you really dont need 2 roosters though. 1 rooster for 11 hens would be a good ratio for fertle eggs. If you notice your hens starting to look ragged, missing feathers on back, head and neck, it will be to much rooster, or one violent rooster.

 

[centrarchid]

Go out and watch flock in same manner as it comes off the roost.

 

[ronott1]

I do the same thing. Go out to the coop, flip my feed bucket over and just watch them. Sometimes i take my morning coffe out drag the lawn chair over and just take it all in, morning, birds, sunshine. A great way to start the day.
I think your two roosters may be having a little competion. The fact that one behaved after being corrected by the other is a good sign.
I think you really dont need 2 roosters though. 1 rooster for 11 hens would be a good ratio for fertle eggs. If you notice your hens starting to look ragged, missing feathers on back, head and neck, it will be to much rooster, or one violent rooster.

There is a good chance that the two cockerels will eventually fight each other

 

[KYates]

Hi all!
We have 13 chickens - were all supposed to be pullets, but ended up with 2 roosters. They range from 15-17 weeks old. We like to sit in the coop at night and observe their behavior.
Tonight we were watching them get situated on their roosts. Our BLRW rooster was the first one up on the roost and he pecked every hen that came near him until she got down. He did this several times. Our Welsummer rooster (who seems to be in charge) pecked him when he saw him pick on the girls. The BLRW roo stopped pecking after this happened and behaved himself better.
Is this normal? I'm a little concerned after seeing him be mean to the hens! Both our boys are sweet to us and have never tried anything. It also might be important to add that both boys were trying to mount the girls shortly before bedtime.
Thoughts?

I think it is normal. We have two young Cochin roosters, Tarzan and Rowdy, in the same flock with Chippy, an older and dominate Cochin roo. Chippy corrects the younger ones when they bother the hens. The hens don't like the attention of the younger boys and are always trying to get away from them. The rejected roos are sometimes a little mean to the hens. Chippy keeps it under control and comes running to their defense whenever he hears the hens complaining. It is interesting to watch their social dynamics play out.

 

[Compost King]

the odd part is that the welsummer leads the flock. Mine are always at the bottom of the pecking order. The good news is that the Welsumer Roosters tend to be very gentle with the ladies when they are the lead rooster. Although I breed chickens so I have all sorts of roosters, when I ever go down to just one rooster it will be a Welsumer.

 

[KDrake]

the odd part is that the welsummer leads the flock. Mine are always at the bottom of the pecking order. The good news is that the Welsumer Roosters tend to be very gentle with the ladies when they are the lead rooster. Although I breed chickens so I have all sorts of roosters, when I ever go down to just one rooster it will be a Welsumer.

Our Welsummer is older and quite a bit bigger. I have no clue if that would play a role, though. We are first time chicken owners so I'm thankful I found this site!