large rooster, small hens

[HensintheHollow]

If my rooster is large (from a breeder) and my hens are small (from hatchery) will the rooster harm the hens?

 

[jimbob86]

Watch them .....

FWIW, my dad has 4 chickens, all hatchery birds ...... 2 RIR and 1 BOrp, all pretty small, and a BR rooster. That is the largest rooster I have ever seen in real life ...... the hens look a bit bedraggled some days, but they are OK....... he really either needs more hens, or should separate them until spring.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You are dealing with living animals so I don’t give guarantees but I would not worry about it if they are from the same breed or similar sized breeds. When chickens mate the hen squats. That spreads her body out on the ground so the rooster’s weight goes into the ground through her body, not just the legs. Roosters normally weigh more than the hen anyway. This is nature’s way of protecting the hen.

The more difference in size the more risk, but full sized roosters often mate bantam hens with no problems. Bantams and roosters come in different sized so I won’t say there are never problems but in your situation I really would not be worried. It’s a good question though. Lots of people would never even think about that.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

You really should not be worried about your rooster hurting your hens, roosters do not have any external sexual organs so I think that your hens are safe.

 

[jimbob86]

Quote: @chickengeorgeto You really need to stop anthropomorphizing things ..... they are CHICKENS.......

I doubt anybody with any familiarity with the act in question was worried about the size of "external sexual organs" ..... it's just that a 9+ pound roo standing (indeed, stomping, and pulling hackles, in some instances I've witnessed) upon the back of a 3 pound hen is ...... well, alarming to some people......

IME, the only real danger comes when the hens get overly stressed from an overzealous roo that has too few girls to divide his amorous attentions (which would never happen in nature: the violence would all be spent between the boys.... they'd kill each other until each had all the hens he cared to fight for) ..... as stated above, It's unlikely that the hen would actually be squashed ...... but spurs and talons and beak take a toll on the hen's feathers, and that's her first line of defense against the world..... the worst thing you can do to a hen is pen her up in a small space with a roo for an extended period of time ...... it's NOT natural: she can't flee, and his energies are not subdivided : there are no rivals, no terrritory to defend from them, no predators to guard against ....and no hens that require any tidbitting ......

 

[TalkALittle]

@chickengeorgeto
You really need to stop anthropomorphizing things ..... they are CHICKENS.......

I doubt anybody with any familiarity with the act in question was worried about the size of "external sexual organs"

I don't think george was anthropmorphizing at all. George didn't write that the chickens were concerned about large external organs. George just supposed that might be the OP's concern.

As for people having "any familiarity with the act in question", you are assuming that the OP has a certain level of familiarity. Perhaps they do, but if there is one thing that internet forums have taught me it's that I shouldn't assume anything about anyone.

Thanks george. I'm sure there is some chicken owner out there that was worried about huge rooster parts and thanks to your post their mind has been set at ease.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’ve seen that question on here before, if the rooster’s parts will hurt a pullet or hen. Of course the answer is no but many people on this forum are here because they have no experience with chickens. I hate it when I see someone say “Just use common sense”. How can you apply common sense if you have no experience to base it on? If they don’t know, it is a good question.

I assumed the question was on the rooster’s weight. George could be more right than I was. I answer the wrong question a lot on here because people are not real specific on what their true concern is.

 

[donrae]

I don't think george was anthropmorphizing at all. George didn't write that the chickens were concerned about large external organs. George just supposed that might be the OP's concern.

As for people having "any familiarity with the act in question", you are assuming that the OP has a certain level of familiarity. Perhaps they do, but if there is one thing that internet forums have taught me it's that I shouldn't assume anything about anyone.

Thanks george. I'm sure there is some chicken owner out there that was worried about huge rooster parts and thanks to your post their mind has been set at ease.

Good example! Love it.

And anyone who has seen a drake (male duck) mating could have legitimate concerns about a male bird's sexual organ