Oh my goodness.. my Roo's are rapists.

[BantyChooks]

This is exactly so...... It is common because people buy chicks from a hatchery and have pullets and cockerels the same age growing up together without adult birds to keep them in check and teach them how to behave. People assume because they see the same behaviour in their flock that it is "normal" and acceptable behaviour..... it is not. If these birds were raised more naturally, the mature rooster of the flock would run off the young males once they started this behaviour and the pullets and hens would stick close to him for protection. Humankind creates this unnatural environment where there are multiple young males and females in a flock with no adult birds to keep order.
It is an unhealthy situation.

x many. I started with an adult flock so I have always had grown-ups to keep the young cockerels in check. It's worked brilliantly and I would hate to have to start over with just chicks.

I do hope you are not feeling scolded here, because that is not what is happening. Nor should you feel ashamed. We all started at one time or an other with our FIRST birds! And we have learned as we built and matured our flocks.

RS did an excellent job of telling why such behavior occurs. While knowing why it occurs is helpful in terms of future flock management, that does not solve YOUR problem now.

Many folks doing their first flock set up, start their flock exactly the same way you did: buy hatchery birds from the local feed store. Those chicks are mailed from a hatchery to the feed store, where the customer then buys them. Unfortunately, feed stores can vary from one manager to an other. I've seen well run set ups where the chicks are well tended, and well separated, so there is no chance of them getting mixed up from one bin to an other. Such places are set up so that the customer can view the chicks well, and even choose her chicks, but the customer is not allowed to touch the chicks!

Other feed stores: not so much. Mis-labeled bins. Chicks being handled by customers and even children, then being put back in the wrong bin. Poorly cared for, in filthy bins, pasty butt visible from 10' away, and inadequate heat source. Even dead chicks trampled into the litter.

Plenty of threads on BYC re: TSC improper labeling of their birds: Straight run chicks sold as pullets, meat birds sold as Leghorns, and on it goes. The only advantage of buying from a feed store is that the customer gets to see what he is getting, and the feed store absorbs the cost of the early deaths. However, many feed stores offer no guarantee once a chick has left the store, while direct hatchery shipments offer a 48 hour guarantee.

Sorry for the long book. My fingers sometimes get carried away.

Back to your issue: I would immediately remove all cockerels to a separate coop/run, even if it's just a temporary set up. If you have a favorite cockerel, you could re-introduce him after the pullets start laying. Get rid of the rest. Or even all of them.

Absolutely. To the OP: good job at noticing and taking steps to correct the situation.

 

[chuckachucka]

@MzGina Absolutely I recognised that you thought it wasn't normal behaviour and that's why you posted looking for advice. Sorry if you felt like people were criticising you. This was not the case. I replied because I disagreed with the other people who replied before me saying that the behaviour was 'normal'. This kind of thing will happen and some people will choose to let the chickens sort out their own social issues but others prefer to be more involved. Personally I feel it is my responsibility as a chicken owner to protect my chickens from anything that causes them pain and suffering, which includes each other at times, unfortunately.

 

[chuckachucka]

Someone stated above they squat down at some point do they still look traumatized during?

 

[MzGina]

@MzGina Absolutely I recognised that you thought it wasn't normal behaviour and that's why you posted looking for advice. Sorry if you felt like people were criticising you. This was not the case. I replied because I disagreed with the other people who replied before me saying that the behaviour was 'normal'. This kind of thing will happen and some people will choose to let the chickens sort out their own social issues but others prefer to be more involved. Personally I feel it is my responsibility as a chicken owner to protect my chickens from anything that causes them pain and suffering, which includes each other at times, unfortunately.

Thank You.... I choose to be very involved... I love these lil creatures and just want to give them a good life.

 

[chuckachucka]

If a hen accepts a cockerel/rooster she will squat down and usually be very quiet and still while the male does what he needs to. They don't seem to mind at all as long as the male isn't too rough and usually just shake their feathers straight and carry on afterwards.

 

[rebrascora]

@MzGina

Hi
My post was absolutely not intended in any way to scold you or make you feel uncomfortable..... it was actually directed more towards the people (some of whom are quite experienced) who were saying that that behaviour is "normal".
I was trying to explain why people come to see it as normal, because it is often all they experience by having a single generational flock. Or they have an unsympathetic attitude which doesn't look beyond their situation to realise that it is wrong.
We all have to learn and start somewhere and I agree that it is a credit to you that you have come seeking advice because you feel uncomfortable about it.... that suggests you have good instincts.
14 weeks is early for them to start this behaviour so whilst only one is causing a bit of a problem now, when the others get in on the act it often gets really brutal and when one grabs a pullet and hops on her, the others come running over and try to mate her as well. I have been in a similar situation, so I am not criticising, merely trying to help you to understand what is going on and why and know that it will get significantly worse if you do not take steps to prevent it.

Yes there are hens that will protest when a rooster mates her, but in this situation with 14 week old pullets and multiple cockerels the same age, it soon becomes constant and traumatic and the pullets are terrorised.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Someone stated above they squat down at some point do they still look traumatized during?

When I approach some of my hens to pick them up, they spread out their wings and squat down as if I'm about to mount them. They just freeze and wait. The entire experience can't be pleasant for them, and after the rooster is done the hens shake their feathers and look unsettled.

 

[AllynTal]

When I posted that this behavior is 'normal', I meant that this is the behavior that happens in the situation as it was presented in the original post. Those cockerels are behaving predictably in that situation. I am not a chicken collector; I am a breeder and as part of that, I routinely separate out the cockerels from the pullets at 12 to 14 weeks. The pullets stay in the main flock with the alpha rooster, who has enough willing hens at his disposal that he doesn't bother with the immature pullets, and the cockerels go into separate housing with other cockerels to grow out enough that I can identify those of breeding quality and cull the rest for the freezer.

Without a grown rooster to keep the young'uns in line, those frantic, unwelcome advances by the young cockerels is behavior that is predictable, so yes, in that sense, it is normal. My recommendation is the same. Separate the boys from the girls and decide what you're going to do with the extra cockerels.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Someone around here bought fifteen chicks and ended up with nine roosters. And others have posted similar rooster to hen ratios.

I was so hoping for one rooster with my Welsummers and that's what I got. Thankfully the breed is easier to sex as chicks, but since my only option was a feed store, by way of Privet's Hatchery, the breeding stock isn't producing perfect representations of the breed.

This is how Henry ended up with just enough eyeliner and patching on his head to pass as a female. When I saw him at the feed store, I noticed the colorings were fainter than the other chicks, and the eyeliner was broken in a few places. This gave me hope he may grow out to be a man bird, and sure enough he did.

Had I ended up with more than one rooster, I would have been at a loss. Some people seem to do just fine; the roosters figure each other out, establish a pecking order, and there aren't problems. But for the most part it does seem multiple roosters create problems

It sounds like you're doing everything you know how to do to care for your flock. I'm new to chickens this year and have had a huge learning curve. Lots of trial by fire, and I'm still not doing things entirely right.

And even when you do, things still go wrong that you just can't plan for. With roosters, though, you may want to consider separating them out and creating a rooster flock, while leaving one behind with the hens. I have no experience with this, but I've done lots of reading in the forums. Can you extend the fencing out for your run and put an addition on the coop?

Anyway, hang in there!

 

[Sunshine Flock]

When I posted that this behavior is 'normal', I meant that this is the behavior that happens in the situation as it was presented in the original post. Those cockerels are behaving predictably in that situation. I am not a chicken collector; I am a breeder and as part of that, I routinely separate out the cockerels from the pullets at 12 to 14 weeks. The pullets stay in the main flock with the alpha rooster, who has enough willing hens at his disposal that he doesn't bother with the immature pullets, and the cockerels go into separate housing with other cockerels to grow out enough that I can identify those of breeding quality and cull the rest for the freezer.

Without a grown rooster to keep the young'uns in line, those frantic, unwelcome advances by the young cockerels is behavior that is predictable, so yes, in that sense, it is normal. My recommendation is the same. Separate the boys from the girls and decide what you're going to do with the extra cockerels.

See, this right here is something I wouldn't have known. I had no idea roosters teach younger roosters and that there's a chicken school they all go to with assigned headmasters!