Making gentlemen our if my roos

[IdyllwildAcres]

No actual experience with this but I have read that you should not let them mate in front of you, by not allowing them to mate you are showing who is in charge. I think the hens would be happier if you got rid of the boys. Just buy day olds when its time to get new hens.

Good luck

Gary

 

[EggSighted4Life]

It's simple, aside from the advice already given.. your boys need some time for maturity. Age is PART of the issue right now.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I also agree with this.
You can try to get rid of one and see what happens but honestly I think you have unrealistic expectations of any rooster.
If you want to equate it with rape. Then your only choice is to remove all roosters. They're all rapists at some point and your hens will continue to be raped as long as any rooster is around.

Actually, my older boys KNOW how to take NO for an answer!

 

[The Moonshiner]

Actually, my older boys KNOW how to take NO for an answer!

Every single time? Do you're girls ever say NO? Often?
Are you sure they're boys?

I believe a rooster has two instincts. Survival and mating. I believe everything they do revolves around one of those two things.
Imo a rooster may take no for an answer and they may really work hard for a yes but at some point or another they will breed a hen that doesn't say yes because it is engrained into them that that's what they're meant to do in their mind.
Some people like to humanize their pets. Just like putting the label "rape" on that situation. On the same coin you wouldn't want to think of YOUR pet being a "rapist" and of course you would also prefer him to be a gentleman. But what's going on is not rape in their minds just ours because their mind doesn't work that way.

 

[aart]

Roos were hatched in April. I have 22 females. 3 that are about to lay pullets and 1 still with chicks mama so 18 currently laying.

So you have cockerels, not 'roos'.... cockerels just coming into their hormones.
I'd get rid of one maybe and at least separate them all for a month or two.
Multiple males create a competitive environment,
which brings out worst behaviors in all of them.

Knowing your setup might help....are they free range or confined?
Places for targeted females to get away from the randy males?

Knocking a male off a female is crazy...we have better brains and management techniques than that.

 

[Chickassan]

You don't have roosters you have cockrels if they were hatched in April. This is why they aren't gentlemen they are teenagers. Having more than one teenage rooster in your flock is a constant pain in the butt for your girls. Thin the cockrels and wait for maturity then you'll get your dances.

 

[kesrchicky16]

So you have cockerels, not 'roos'.... cockerels just coming into their hormones.
I'd get rid of one maybe and at least separate them all for a month or two.
Multiple males create a competitive environment,
which brings out worst behaviors in all of them.

Knowing your setup might help....are they free range or confined?
Places for targeted females to get away form the randy males?

I have noticed it seems worst first thing in the morning. I will try separating the submissive one and see if his brother tries harder to dance.

I am reluctant to get rid of them because I got them for their survival instincts. I had coons and wanted back up for my increased security. Well I was kept away from home one night. Found 1 dead dry chicken, a duck pond with bloody water, 2 damp roos, and bloody coon tracks. They earned their keep.

I do believe that they can be better behaved with the ladies and that will make for a happier flock.

They are confined from about 2 hours before dusk until about 1 hour after dawn. There are multiple things to run behind and around. No pinch points. I'm still trying to convince my new ladies to sleep in the coop so we have multiple sleeping boxes right now.

So at what age are they considered "mature roosters"?

 

[The Moonshiner]

Some breeds mature a little faster and some a little slower with that in mind I would say at one year old.

 

[Chickassan]

It's worse in the mornings and late afternoons because that's when testosterone is highest. The stuff that's making them pains in the rear.

 

[apryl29]

It's simple, aside from the advice already given.. your boys need some time for maturity. Age is PART of the issue right now.

This was part of my issue w/ Steve. He was a late bloomer and really went gung-ho when he came into his own. He was a big guy and would chase down my pullets. I actually had one girl come sit with me for protection b/c as soon as he saw her he'd chase her down. She was much too young for mating and he didn't care at all. Lucky for him, the guy I gave him to had older hens and wanted him for breeding. Steve was a very lucky guy in that respect. My leghorn cockerel, Odin and my bantam bboe, Willie, learned quickly to respect the ladies (we won't discuss how Willie though Steve was a girl.. we all did, really.. and would do his wing dance for him). Odin, being the dominate cockerel will chase Willie away from a girl and take her for his own, but he's not aggressive about it, if she stands up he lets her go.