My rooster is a pedophile!

[Sphinx]

I guess he is also underage, so maybe that's the wrong choice of words, but I'm not sure what to do.

I have my flock separated into two groups. My "big girls" are all around 6 months old, and 4/7 are laying. There's two in there who aren't who are quite small, though they're 5 months old and not laying yet.

In my other group, I have a few who are 4 months, and few who are 3 months. There's three cockerels in that batch, 4 months old. I was noticing that the FBCM kept chasing around one of the pullets, who looks like she's still a good month or two away from laying. He wouldn't leave her alone, so I decided to put him in with the big girls, figuring that they'd either 1- beat him up or 2- enjoy his attentions.

It's been a couple days, and one of my lavender ameraucanas seems to have a leg injury as of today- she's favoring her left leg and doesn't stand up unless she has to. She's large fowl, and two months older than him, but significantly smaller than the cockerel. I've taken her out and put her in a quiet corner of the coop where nobody can get to her.

Is it possible that he caused this injury? I thought roosters/cockerels generally left immature pullets alone. What can I do? I'm not above rehoming him, but it wouldn't be my preferred course of action.

 

[triplepurpose]

They're birds! Relax!

You should see my drake chasing my three-month-old ducklets around the yard... They scream and run all over the property trying to escape from him. But they ARE fast.

This is not unusual for roosters or cockerels to try to mate with pullets. It happens all the time. Usually the pullets who are too young to be fertile are very good at running away, so the rooster will go for the easier catches with the mature hens.

Also, I doubt that is what caused the leg injury based on your description...

 

[Sphinx]

Well, the coop is completely enclosed, so nothing can get in or out unless they have opposable thumbs.

The hen will not stand up unless she genuinely feels her life depends on it. She prefers to lay on her side with the one leg kind of curled up. I've never seen this before and have no idea what to think. She is genuinely in pain, and I do feel it's an injury.

He's the only new element introduced.


Having my rooster be older/bigger than my hens at introduction is a new concept for me.

 

[RedDrgn]

He's behaving perfectly normally. Keep in mind that his inexperience can lead to some roughness and a bit of over-zealousness in the mating process, though, so keep an eye out for any significant feather damage and protect your heads with saddles if you need to.

That said, if they're all in enclosed runs then make sure you've got at least 10 square feet of space per bird. Adding some hay bales or other objects/obstacles that they can get in/on/around and break line of sight from time to time will help, too.

As for the leg injury, it could have been from him. She may have been running and twisted/tangled it in something. Check the run and remove any such potential snags. It could also be from a poor mounting, since the roo does climb up and put all of his weight on the hen. If she's small, it could have been sprained that way. You may need to consider keeping your small girls separate from the rest, if the size disparity is significant.