Mating too aggressive?

[lauramacf]

Hi all, we've had 2 roosters for a year (my daughter's pets, one is a small golden, the other seems to be a jumbo), and got 8 jumbo hens to keep them happy. We still haven't moved them all in together, but tried having them meet a few of the hens by putting 2 hens in with each of the boys. I'm a little traumatized by the mating process! One of the boys is so aggressive, when we introduced him to two of the hens he stripped their neck feathers overnight. Will he do better with more hens in a bigger cage (when we move them to their coop), or is an aggressive boy likely to do this to all the girls? The girls are about 3 months old at this point, are they just too young for these older boys? Is a rooster's mating ever too aggressive? I'm worried for the ones he tore up, they look terrified, even after two days away from the rooster.

Let me know what you all think, should this rooster be banned from the girls, or should he get the majority of the hens to himself (maybe 5 for him and 3 for the other rooster, and we'll keep them separate, because seeing his aggression I am thinking he would still want to kill the other boy). We are also thinking about giving the girls another month without the boys and helping them beef up a bit to see if they fare better next time.

 

[shelleyd2008]

That was probably more of an aggression than breeding, though 2 hens with one roo does cause problems. Just put them all together and they should be okay. Their mating does seem rough, but that's why they need plenty of girls

 

[JJMR794]

Step 1--- Prepare Lg Pen
Step 2--- Collect All Quail
Step 3--- Insert All Quail Into Lg Pen
Step4--- Walk Away! Go Drink A Beer And Forget About It!
Step5---- Go Out Tomarrow And Feed Your Quail In Their New Pen!


Sometimes Its Hard For Us As Caregivers To Watch The Natural Behavior Of Our Animals. What Your Experiencing Is Normal Behavior For Them.... Put All Into A Pen That Is "new To Every Last 1 Of Them" And Go Away. Let Them Work It Out For Them Selves. The Beer In The Above Directions Is Strictly For Your Own Emotional Benefit And Can Be Substituted With Similar Beverages If They Work Better For Ya!. Good Luck And Try Not To Worry Too Bad, It'll All Work Out In The End.

 

[lauramacf]

Okay, you got me, I'm tender-hearted . . . I have to admit that the facts of quail-life hit me pretty hard. The funniest thing was when we first observed the ruckus, my 9-year-old daughter said, about the poor hen who was the object of affection at the moment "I wish she would just lie down already, and let him get on her back." Guess my daughter is better equipped for quail-raising than I am! I'm going to finish up the coop tomorrow, weather permitting, and just put the whole lot of the jumbos in there, except for one little bird with a broken beak who I think will be an inside bird forever. She came to us with a crooked neck and just hasn't grown as well as the others. Perhaps she gets picked on too much.

Thanks for the reassurance!

 

[JJMR794]

Not To Worry Laura..... They've Been Doing It Like That Since The Beginning Of Time For That Speces And They're Still Here--- It'll All Work Out! Like I Said Sometimes We Dont Particularly Like What We See---- Its Only Natural, Especially If They're Hatched And Raised By You!






P.s. Did That Beer Help Any? Lol

 

[ksukristin]

I had a similar experience when I put my roo in with 4 girls- and he stripped the feathers off of two of them- head, neck and even shoulders!

I had a few other gals who weren't quite old enough to be in with him yet- so I seperated them out for awhile, and currently I have the two beat up gals in a separate pen healing, and he is doing just fine with the other gals. They have learned to squat for him so there is much less feather loss.

I suppose it has to do with them getting along and cooperating just as your daughter said. As for your tender heart- those gals feathers will grow back and they'll all get used to each other once you have them all together

best of luck to you!