Mean Leghorn Rooster

[AnnJoyce]

I have a Rose Comb Brown Leghorn Rooster who is mean. He is 13 weeks old as are my 12 hens. He grabs them by the side of the neck while they struggle to get loose. He does not mount them. He is so aggressive that he actually keeps them from leaving the coop to go to the run by blocking the doorway. He is beautiful but I think he has to go. Any suggestions? Is this typical of leghorn roosters?

 

[soydo]

Possibly, some high production bred lines have roosters that are so over sexed or aggressive.

He is still young and has not yet learned how to breed the girls. Him grabbing the neck is his mating instinct starting to kick in but he doesn't know he's supposed to get on their backs to finish the act.

If the girl's combs and wattles are not dark pink or red yet they are not ready to mate and are resisting him which is frustrating his instinct to mate and this is what happens. You could separate the rooster until the girls are laying then put him back with them, the girls would be more receptive and maybe he will have matured some more and have the mating figured out.

Some roosters that are aggressive with the girls when young eventually calm down and are much better when mature but there's no real way to tell if he will go this way or continue to be a mess.

 

[AnnJoyce]

Thank you for your response. There is also the fact that when I open the coop and he comes out, the other chickens stayed inside. They are afraid to be around him so they will stay inside rather than be attacked. I have two other roosters (one was a surprise from the hatchery) so I do have to get rid of two out of the three. I have just started leaving them out of the run into the yard and was waiting to see how the three roosters do outside the run. We do have hawks in the area so I will only leave them out when I'm outside and when the hawks don't seem to be looking for dinner in our area. My husband wants to put him down and make chicken pot pie!

 

[soydo]

Roosters can get along, especially if raised together and never separated from each other. Or are you saying the two roosters are very afraid of this leghorn also? What breeds are they?

The other thing to watch out for with multiple roosters is to make sure the hens are not being bred too much- evidence of this is damaged feathers or bare areas on neck and back from too much rooster action. If this happens, the rooster number do need to go down.

If you weren't planning on breeding and pure bred chicks is not important, there is nothing wrong with going down to two or one rooster. Personally I would pick the rooster that is mellowest and has not shown any aggressive behavior towards any human. This includes 'dancing' at a human- making noises while pecking at ground and tilting tail towards human.

 

[aart]

Take the other two roosters away and the one might settle down.

I just went thru this, and after culling the other two younger ones, the first immediately settled down.
I think the competition set him off once one of the younger cockerels started crowing.

 

[soydo]

Without seeing the roosters- the leghorn in particular I kind of doubt that's the case. They're all very young birds to my understanding.

Not to scare the person off, the top rooster is a leghorn. It is possible he is from a line with way oversexed or aggressively sexual roosters- more than the typical rooster. Or he may be a typical rooster that happens to be dominant yet very young and may calm with age, doesn't matter if there are other roosters around or not. In other words.. there are genuinely mean and aggressive leghorns, and very average leghorns. Which type is this one..?

It seems important to the owners the rooster not be so aggressive so perhaps in *this* situation that rooster be removed if another rooster is naturally less dominant or aggressive.

Is there some way to see pictures of him?

Are the other birds hens scared to the point of screeching and running plus staying off ground to be away from this one or do they basically make a little effort to stay out of his reach? the latter would be normal with a dominant cockerel, and he should settle down once he is mature.