Mating or bullying?

[castlehens]

Hello I have 3 hens and just got a rooster yesterday. I noticed that he is being aggressive toward just one of the girls. Chasing, pecking and smacking her with those claws of his. He seems relentless. I was told he is 18 mo old if that makes any difference. This afternoon I found the girl hiding in a corner. Is he trying to mate or just being an @ss?

 

[sourland]

For me, such behavior is unacceptable in a rooster. He's being an @ss in my opinion.

 

[chfite]

Mating behavior in chickens is vigorous enough to be considered rough behavior in humans. But chickens are not humans.

Roosters tend to over-mate hens, if there are too few to spread the attention around. Generally, one rooster to ten hens is a good ratio. Even so, a rooster will sometimes have a favorite hen that gets a lot of his attention.

With so few hens, they may be feeling harassed by the rooster. You could pen him separately during part of the day to give the hens a break or get more hens or send the rooster elsewhere.

Chris

 

[sourland]

Flogging hens is no part of mating behavior.

 

[castlehens]

Is there any way to train him to cut it out?

 

[Roodey]

Is there any way to train him to cut it out?

Not likely, the last thing you want to do is pick a fight with him, they are entirely indomitable creatures and will only escalate the conflict with you and the hens.

The thing to remember is a rooster's primary activity beyond mating is to find more food for the hens, if given this opportunity he will tend to back off the mating. If you have no range for the chickens a rooster is a tough proposition. Even with enough hens he will generally pick on the lowest in the pecking order, relentlessly. My sister has 8 hens with one Brahma rooster and no range to run; they have practically killed one of the hens. She's now realizing they can't keep the roo.