I've got 2 boys and 21 girls, with the younger girls just coming into lay over the past week.
Ludwig, the Black Langshan, is 9 months. Rameses, the Blue Australorp, is 23 weeks tomorrow.
For the past month or so I've seen Rameses mating with the girls, with Ludwig standing there observing, almost looking puzzled if you can attribute that emotion to a cockerel.
Today I got photos of their interaction, which was a little more intense. Rameses herded one of the splits (I couldn't see her band, but I don't think it was Lickety, the largest), into the broody-breaker, where she squatted and submitted without vocal protest. But instead of the usual on and off he kept mating her repeatedly.
During this time Ludwig circled the broody breaker several times before finally entering and registering his objection with a few quick pecks that I couldn't tell if they were aimed at Rameses or the split.
He broke it up, they all left the broody breaker then Rameses mated with the split again and Ludwig came over to protest again.
I ended up breaking it up, gently booting Rameses off his hen, simply because they were in my way to get out of the coop.
The girl left, but the two boys stood there side by side, then wandered over to join the crowd at the dish of mash and cooking scraps I'd brought.
So,
They're not fighting.
But I think I'd better prioritize putting a barrier across the coop and dividing the flock because they do seem to be competing -- which seems likely to get rough on the girls even with plenty of them around and, as a general rule, the girls hang out with different males most of the time in their 250+ square foot coop.
Ludwig, the Black Langshan, is 9 months. Rameses, the Blue Australorp, is 23 weeks tomorrow.
For the past month or so I've seen Rameses mating with the girls, with Ludwig standing there observing, almost looking puzzled if you can attribute that emotion to a cockerel.
Today I got photos of their interaction, which was a little more intense. Rameses herded one of the splits (I couldn't see her band, but I don't think it was Lickety, the largest), into the broody-breaker, where she squatted and submitted without vocal protest. But instead of the usual on and off he kept mating her repeatedly.
During this time Ludwig circled the broody breaker several times before finally entering and registering his objection with a few quick pecks that I couldn't tell if they were aimed at Rameses or the split.
He broke it up, they all left the broody breaker then Rameses mated with the split again and Ludwig came over to protest again.
I ended up breaking it up, gently booting Rameses off his hen, simply because they were in my way to get out of the coop.
The girl left, but the two boys stood there side by side, then wandered over to join the crowd at the dish of mash and cooking scraps I'd brought.
So,
They're not fighting.
But I think I'd better prioritize putting a barrier across the coop and dividing the flock because they do seem to be competing -- which seems likely to get rough on the girls even with plenty of them around and, as a general rule, the girls hang out with different males most of the time in their 250+ square foot coop.
