My Rooster SAT on My Hen

[Fishkeeper]

That's probably the consequence of a drive to eliminate a rival's offspring, massively increased and misplaced.

 

[mimipeaches]

I really don't think you ever need to worry about a rooster trying to suffocate a hen. What evolutionary purpose would that serve?

I had no idea. Thank you!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Typical mating behavior between mature consenting adults.

The rooster dances for a specific hen. He lowers one wing and sort of circles her. This signals his intent.

The hen squats. This gets her body onto the ground so the rooster’s weight goes into the ground through her entire body and not just her legs. That way she can support a much heavier rooster without hurting her legs.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. The head grab helps him get in the right position to hit the target and helps him to keep his balance, but its major purpose is to tell the hen to raise her tail out of the way to expose the target. A mating will not be successful if she does not raise her tail and expose the target. The head grab is necessary.

The rooster touches vents and hops off. This may be over in the blink of an eye or it may take a few seconds. But when this is over the rooster’s part is done.

The hen then stands up, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake gets the sperm into a special container inside the hen near where the egg starts its journey through her internal egg making factory.

This is the ideal. Since they are living animals you get all kinds of variations of these behaviors. Often there is some chasing involved or maybe no dancing but as long as no one is hurt no one is hurt. No big deal.

The mating act is not just about sex, it is also dominant behavior. The one on bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. With juveniles it is usually about dominance, not a need to fertilize the eggs. While it can be a sign the pullet is getting close to laying I've seen a 13 week old pullet willingly squat for a 13 week old cockerel, no force involved. She did not start to lay for another two months. Don't get me wrong, it is a sign she might possibly be getting ready to lay, but it is not a guarantee. You just don't get guarantees with the behaviors of living animals.

I was not there to observe so I'm not sure what happened. Chicken society can be pretty complex but as long as no one is seriously injured I tend to let them be chickens and work it out themselves.

 

[MissChick@dee]

You said your hen hadn’t started laying so I’ll assume they are both younger birds. Young Birds are like teenagers. They just don’t know what they are doing but their hormones tell them to do something!!
It sounds to me like you’ve got a pretty accepting pullet just letting him sit on her. And possibly a nice cockerel who had taken postion on her but didn’t get aggressive. Young cockerels often “take” what they want and the hens can pay a price for that. I’m hoping you have the starts of a gentleman’s Roo.
I’m hoping that it works out well for you.

 

[mimipeaches]

Typical mating behavior between mature consenting adults.

The rooster dances for a specific hen. He lowers one wing and sort of circles her. This signals his intent.

The hen squats. This gets her body onto the ground so the rooster’s weight goes into the ground through her entire body and not just her legs. That way she can support a much heavier rooster without hurting her legs.

The rooster hops on and grabs the back of her head. The head grab helps him get in the right position to hit the target and helps him to keep his balance, but its major purpose is to tell the hen to raise her tail out of the way to expose the target. A mating will not be successful if she does not raise her tail and expose the target. The head grab is necessary.

The rooster touches vents and hops off. This may be over in the blink of an eye or it may take a few seconds. But when this is over the rooster’s part is done.

The hen then stands up, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake gets the sperm into a special container inside the hen near where the egg starts its journey through her internal egg making factory.

This is the ideal. Since they are living animals you get all kinds of variations of these behaviors. Often there is some chasing involved or maybe no dancing but as long as no one is hurt no one is hurt. No big deal.

The mating act is not just about sex, it is also dominant behavior. The one on bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. With juveniles it is usually about dominance, not a need to fertilize the eggs. While it can be a sign the pullet is getting close to laying I've seen a 13 week old pullet willingly squat for a 13 week old cockerel, no force involved. She did not start to lay for another two months. Don't get me wrong, it is a sign she might possibly be getting ready to lay, but it is not a guarantee. You just don't get guarantees with the behaviors of living animals.

I was not there to observe so I'm not sure what happened. Chicken society can be pretty complex but as long as no one is seriously injured I tend to let them be chickens and work it out themselves.

Thank you I will try to not worry or get int eh way next time! I will also not get my hopes up too high! Thank you for your feedback!

 

[mimipeaches]

You said your hen hadn’t started laying so I’ll assume they are both younger birds. Young Birds are like teenagers. They just don’t know what they are doing but their hormones tell them to do something!!
It sounds to me like you’ve got a pretty accepting pullet just letting him sit on her. And possibly a nice cockerel who had taken postion on her but didn’t get aggressive. Young cockerels often “take” what they want and the hens can pay a price for that. I’m hoping you have the starts of a gentleman’s Roo.
I’m hoping that it works out well for you.

Thank you! He didn't grab her head so I was confused I think this is a pretty good explanation!!! My rooster is almost 8 months and my hen is almost 6 months so this could be it!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know but I have a rooster that tries to kill his own baby chicks.

Then I'd make sure he is not around chicks and does not get a chance to breed if he is a dominant rooster. That is not natural behavior for a dominant rooster and I would not risk him passing on unnatural genetics. If he was an immature cockerel I could see that type of behavior. Some hens will do that but most of my hens pretty much leave the chicks alone unless the chicks invade her personal space. Immature cockerels are the worst but occasionally I see a pullet or mature hen be aggressive toward baby chicks.

I've never had a rooster try to harm any chicks though I'm sure some people have. I've had dominant roosters help a hen take care of her chicks but most of the time they just leave them alone. One specific example I've seen a few times. A hen went through a gate and some of her chicks did not make it and were stuck on the other side of the fence. The rooster left the rest of the hens and went over to take care of the chicks until the hen eventually made hr way back through the gate to collect them.

My broody hens raise their chicks with the flock. My brooder is in the coop so my brooder-raised chicks grow up with the flock. I turn them loose at 5 weeks so they can be integrated with the flock. I also have a lot of room, I consider having room important.

If space is pretty tight behaviors can go south pretty fast. I've never waited to introduce the chicks to the flock, they immediately go into my brooder in the coop straight from the incubator or post office if they are brooder-raised. I've never done it but I could see a rooster thinking they are a rival's chicks if you wait to introduce them until they are pretty big, I'd guess two to three months old? But you said they were babies. That should not happen.

I don't know your circumstances so I don't know what actually happened. But if I had a mature roster attacking young chicks he would be history. That is not natural or acceptable to me.

 

[Shadrach]

If this was just mating behavior the rooster would grab the back of the hens neck and it would all be over very quickly.
I stand by the post I made earlier, he's encouraging her to nest and lay.

 

[MissChick@dee]

If this was just mating behavior the rooster would grab the back of the hens neck and it would all be over very quickly.
I stand by the post I made earlier, he's encouraging her to nest and lay.

Or maybe just taking her out for their first date...and only holding hands. After all Mom is watching!

 

[Shadrach]

Or maybe just taking her out for their first date...and only holding hands. After all Mom is watching!

maybe,