JERK or Normal ROOSTER Behavior??

[chicken_chik]

This is my first flock of chickens. I got a straight run, so 14 hens, and 9 Roosters.
They are 15 weeks old this week.

My Buff Brahma Roo who is top of the pecking order is always grabbing the other chickens necks feathers... the hens and the Roos. If anyone is close enough when he struts by, he grabs their neck feathers and doesn't let go. They literally have to pull away to get free, and then "Britches" (the Brahma roo) stands there proudly with a beak full of feathers.

Now I know they have a pecking order, but I am just wondering if this is common behavior for the dominant Rooster, or if this is a bit over the top, jerky, mean behavior.

I am in the process of deciding which Roo to keep as the flock protector, and would like to keep this guy, as he seems to be a leader the others willingly follow, BUT I don't want a Roo that is causing the hens unnecessary stress by bullying them more than what is needed or usual.

So, anyone have experience with their top Roo...is this common behavior or over the top rude?
THANKS!

 

[gamechicken]

naaa i have 2 rooster and 3 hen together and he jump at the other one and pecks sometime but the roost beside each other an the only time he pecks the hen is 2 mate

u might need more hen i know somebody that has 54 hen and 9 rooster in a 12 by 15 space

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I have a few chickens too, and seems like your rooster is somewhat unsure of what to do. Normal rooster mating starts with courting, a strutting dance and the hen says yes, or no. Seems like everyone is saying no and this one isn't getting it...I too have a dumb rooster, that grabs the neck feathers without any asking - he's working on a short life, because I have other roosters that don't do that. no means no and here comes the shotgun

 

[gamechicken]

a shotgun

dont u think thats 2 much more like a 22

 

[reallynewatthis]

Two of our young roosters are doing that (20 weeks old). They keep trying to pounce on the girls from behind without any warning, instead of trying, y'know, to romance them a bit. We have to find homes for them anyway, but this behavior is making us want to get rid of them ASAP. I suspect one rooster injured a hen this morning.

Katy

 

[SycolinWoodsChickens]

We had a roo that did that kind of thing last year and he was just aggressive and mean. He eventually attacked me, my pet sitter, my husband, and anything else that moved. We couldn't retrain him at all. He was doing significant damage to the hens (cuts on their backs, etc).

In contrast this year I have two roos who are younger than he was when we got rid of him and they are sooooo much nicer to the girls. They want to mate all the time but if a girl refuses they give up and don't grab and chase and pull feathers. These guys don't even tread. They hop on, do their thing, and just jump off and move on. The old roo would tread, and tread, and pull feathers, mate, then stand on the hens backs forever just looking around. Sometimes he would pull them down, stand on their backs, not mate, then eventually get down off them.

Good luck. I can't stand my hens being torn up and I'm willing to keep replacing my roos until I find a few that are decent to the hens!

 

[m_shuman]

My roos who are about 17 weeks act like that too. I got tired of all of the screaming and feather pulling and Now the roos are happily free ranging in the yard during the day while I keep the hens in the run. They actually like being in the yard. I will put them back in the run in a few weeks and see if they start acting nicer to the girls. If not I will let them be yard birds for as long as they stay around or don't get eaten. I bought them and they were supposed to be pullets so if they do disappear it won't totally break my heart. The kids hearts maybe but me no way!

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

naw, 18 inch spread at 50 feet, I can't miss

 

[chicken_chik]

I watched him for awhile again the last 2 days, and I think I have concluded that he's a bully.
No one, other roosters included, can get within a foot of him, and wherever he walks the others RUN out of his way. He chases other chickens down after he decides he has it out for them.
He got within my range when I was sitting down watching everybody, so I pulled his hackles like he does to everyone else, and he freaked out...but now keeps a wide distance from me. (chicken dominance game?!)
I tried that on my aggressive rooster too, and afterwards he just stood there and stared...like he was thinking about it.
Interesting....