mating/behavior/pecking order question

[cybrchick]

7 birds, 2 are roos, 5 arent. (Obviously lol) 1 rir and 1 deleware roo. 2 americaunas (bottom of the pecking order), 2 rir and 1 deleware pullets. In the pen tonight the deleware roo (col sanders) kind of came at one of the americaunas, but then the rir roo (big red) and then mated with her. Then the 2 rir hens proceeded to sort of chase her around and peck at her (not making contact, maybe bc shes fast). She finally flew up to a roost and that was that.

1. I think col sanders wanted to mate (he was biting the back of her neck when big red intervened) so why did big red go for it instead and why did col sanders back off? Big red is also the only one that crows and seems to be the top dude but I'm not for sure
2. I think each roo seems to have his own set of preferred hens. I see the 2delewares, and at least 1 americauna together a lot and then the 3 rirs and the other americauna. Altho that one and 1 rir tend to sort of float between the 2. (These are free ranged birds about 17 or 18 weeks and yes we are adding more hens soon) is it possible that big red was sort of laying claim to "his girl" that maybe col sanders was trying to claim?
3. Why did the 2 rir hens sort of bully her after?
4. No eggs yet from any - if mating is happening, shouldnt it be soon for the girls to start laying?

And unrelated 5. What is the difference between a pullet and a hen? Or a cockerel and a rooster?

 

[midget_farms]

Great observations & questions! Let me take a shot at answering these & others can jump in with more.

First - Pullet vs. hen or cockrel vs rooster is totally age - generally if they are laying they are hens & if they are not they are pullets - same for males - if they crow they are roosters if not they are cockerels - or - around 1 year of age - it varies some & the exact moment one changes from a pullet to a hen is up to you.

next - your RIR rooster is dominant & "owns" the entire flock of hens. But when multiple roosters are raised together you often see what you are describing - favorites. The RIR may tolerate the second roo mating with one of the other hens, but wont allow it with one of his chosen girls. this way they each get a small heram & tensions are kept at a minimum.

The lesser rooster will however try a sneak attack on the other hens if the dominant rooster is not paying enough attention.

Then other hens are chasing her simply as a show of dominance & pecking order - she did something to get their attention (mated with the rooster). The chase was over as soon as she started running away - that's how you know it was a pecking order thing - be glad you have enough space for them to run away.

Egg laying depends on a lot of things - most important is breed - egg breeds will lay very early & meat breeds will lay later - while mating shows maturity - it could be a week or a month before you see an egg. Be patient - they can't stop it - no matter what they will lay eggs eventually.

You are well on your way!

 

[cybrchick]

Thanks! I feel pretty good that I for the most part understood what I was seeing! I'm learning a lot on this forum!! The have a decent sized pen but norm free range. We were sort of moving them back tho when this happened. The last few days they have taken to not return7ng to the coop but roosting on the back steps. Well, it was still a bit light but a bad storm was minutes away, so I kind of shooed them and then walked behind them (herded) them in and shut the gate. Figured when the rain and poss hail arrived they would go into the coop. And they did. But after I shut the gate, thats when this all happened. Wasnt sure if it was related at all. Prob not. That rir tho - he's a randy feller (maybe I should call him randy instead *snort* ) and always trying to get it on w the hens! Lol