My roosters are starting to exhibit antisocial behavior

[MacTech]

I knew it was possible, after all, their father, Pants (bantam Cochin roo) was a mean, human-agressive bird, my sister (who raised him from a chick) had me put him,down, because she couldn't bring herself to do it, is was only after he attacked a boarder at her stable and drew blood, so Pants had to go bye-bye.

Before he was humanely put down, he fertilized three eggs, and just as his final laugh, all three chicks were roosters!

They were raised by the two hens he mated with, a black silkie, and a Cochin, both bantams

The resulting re roosters were;
Fancy Pants (Cochin)
Raven (Cochin)
Tribble silkie/Cochin mix

It's been about a year, and both of them are starting to show signs of being jerks, interestingly, their father developed the exact same way, was fine for a year and then the "psychotic" switch tripped in his little bird brain, and he started attacking the very people who raised him...

Tribble and Raven are not human agressive, in fact, they're terrified of people, however, the "mean" genome has manifested itself towards the hens

Here's there offenses;

Feather plucking Chiana, my favorite Easter Egger hen (both do it)

Aggressively mating with the remaining laying hens (Tribble) I'm now down to two laying hens, and I realize that the rooster/hen ratio is way, way off, so I've been keeping the roosters penned as long as I'm not watching them

Double-teaming the hens during mating, Tribble mates, and Raven runs over and aggressively pecks at the hen's head while Tribble is mating (I have yet to witness Raven mating with the hens) this activity is very unwelcome, and I break them up whenever double teaming is going on

Raven has been attempting to mate...... With Tribble! Either he's confused about the "birds and the bees", he's frustrated that Tribble is hogging the hens, or he's following an "alternative lifestyle"... This is less annoying than other behaviors above, more amusing than anything...

And the most recent behaviors which have really ****** me off...

Starting to feather pluck my new batch of 8 week old EE pullets, just to be mean and exert dominance (both do,this)
And tonight, I stopped Tribble attempting to mate with my favorite black-and-white striped EE pullet, he was trying to mate with an 8 week old chicken not even *close* to laying age, in fact, he made two attempts...

Needless to say, on the second attempt, I made sure he realized that when I tell him to stop assaulting one of the hens, I *MEAN* STOP!...

It just so happened that I happened to have my H&R Topper Deluxe Classic 20 gauge single-shot shotgun with me, and I had some custom handloads I developed for it, I call them FunShells...

The recipie is;
9 grains of Alliant Unique propellant (gunpowder) a wad column, and 16 .25 gram AirSoft pellets, this is a load that is so quiet, no hearing protection is needed, is unable to penetrate an empty VitaminWater bottle with the cap closed, (the pellets bounce off) and has a range of 25 feet, under ideal conditions, yet will still crack a skeet disc

I deliberately designed these FunShells for quiet backyard plinking, and introducing new or timid shooters to the shotgun....

I decided to see if they could also work as Rooster-Stingers...

So, after yelling at Tribble to get off the pullet, I leveled the 20 gauge, put the bead on his defiant little frame (he was alone, no other animals in the vicinity), thumbed the hammer back, and pulled the trigger...

POP!
A small flurry of feathers erupted from the spot, and I saw a rather startled looking Tribble running madly away, shedding a few more feathers and screaming his "AIRBORNE PREDATOR ALERT! " alarm call.....

He hasn't bugged any of the hens since, and I was able to inspect him closely once he ran into the barn...

Absolutely no damage, no blood, no broken bones, just a few loose feathers, the only thing injured was his pride...

Okay, sorry for the tangent, now on to the question...

Is Tribble's behavior normal (trying to mate with an 8 week old pullet) or is he the poultry equivalent of a pedophile?, either way, I do not like this new side of Tribble, if he keeps trying to mate with underage hens, it'll be Freezer Camp for him for sure...

 

[sourland]

They are horny roosters doing what horny roosters do. If their behavior is so offensive to you, why not dispatch them? Or at least pen them away from the hens.

 

[MacTech]

I realize they're doing what comes naturally to them, and normally it doesn't bother me, but mating attempts with a pullet half they're size and only 8 weeks old? Isn't that a little young?

Yes I know, judging chicken behavior by human standards and all....

 

[losttexan]

You are likely to receive many differing opinions on the issue of aggressive roos, but many folks (including myself) feel there are way too many surplus roosters in the world to put up with bad ones that are not good to their girls and don't respect the humans.

I have no idea if it's nature or nurture, but in the same way bad chicken mothers beget bad mothers, aggressive roos often beget aggressive male offspring, even if they depart (like Pants) before the younguns' are born.

 

[Razorbackgirl]

You are likely to receive many differing opinions on the issue of aggressive roos, but many folks (including myself) feel there are way too many surplus roosters in the world to put up with bad ones that are not good to their girls and don't respect the humans.

I have no idea if it's nature or nurture, but in the same way bad chicken mothers beget bad mothers, aggressive roos often beget aggressive male offspring, even if they depart (like Pants) before the younguns' are born.

This is off-topic, but, Losttexan, I LOVE your signature!! It is just completely awesome. <<--- Tolkien fan here

On topic: I have a couple of 11-week-old cockerels that are starting to act like punks. They have until they reach fryer weight to get their acts together; otherwise, they'll be fried chicken (in a cast-iron skillet, old-school style). Losttexan is right: there are too many roos in the world to keep around a couple of mean ones.

 

[MacTech]

I've noticed a major personally change in tribble over the last two days, he's been much nicer to his hens, no aggressive mating, no "underage" mating attempts, and no feather pulling or picking on them, I wouldn't go so far as to call his new behavior "gentlemanly" but he seems to be on better behavior (at least when I'm around, no idea how he is when he's alone with the hens....)

I didn't even have my shotgun with me this time

Perhaps getting "stung" by the FunShell knocked some sense into that little bird brain of his

 

[losttexan]

I love your specialty shell recipe. Might have to try it!

 

[MacTech]

Just make sure the FunShell is only used in a manual action shotgun, a single shot, double barrel, bolt or pump action, they will not cycle the action of a semiauto, I'd most strongly recommend a robust single shot like the H&R, always check the bore for obstructions after the shot, make sure the wad has cleared the barrel, a more open choke makes this easier

I've also modified the recipe a bit more, I've also made a version using 9 grains of IMR Trail Boss, a bulky and fluffy powder for Cowboy Action Shooting, it's more reliable, cleaner burning, but on the down side it's also a little louder and the airsoft pellets hit harder, noticeably harder, it's a good possibility that tribble may have been injured had I used a Trail Boss shell, on the upside, the TB recipe has noticeably increased the range and gives the shotgun the recoil of a .22 rifle, not much, but something

Day 3, and the roosters are no longer misbehaving....

Thanks to the FunShell?

 

[MacTech]

I spoke too soon, tribble is back to his mean old self, double teaming the buff orp, I may just have to bite the bullet and send him to Freezer Camp

 

[Folly's place]

Freezer camp sounds like the best plan here. Mary