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

[lazy gardener]

after the rooster is done the hens shake their feathers and look unsettled.

This "shaking of the feathers" after a breeding is a necessary part of the breeding. When the hen does that, she is "shaking" the sperm to get it into the "storage area" in her reproductive system. This "sperm storage" is the reason why a hen can remain fertile for 2 weeks or longer after a single breeding. It's easy for us humans to interpret this behavior as the hen being "unsettled", but that is far from the case! Usually, the hen, after the shaking ritual will continue on with what ever she was doing as though the roo had never even been there! And, often, she will follow him around for a bit after he breeds her.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

This "shaking of the feathers" after a breeding is a necessary part of the breeding. When the hen does that, she is "shaking" the sperm to get it into the "storage area" in her reproductive system. This "sperm storage" is the reason why a hen can remain fertile for 2 weeks or longer after a single breeding. It's easy for us humans to interpret this behavior as the hen being "unsettled", but that is far from the case! Usually, the hen, after the shaking ritual will continue on with what ever she was doing as though the roo had never even been there! And, often, she will follow him around for a bit after he breeds her.

I miss the good old days when I knew virtually nothing about chickens other than how to scramble an egg.

 

[lazy gardener]

I miss the good old days when I knew virtually nothing about chickens other than how to scramble an egg.

Seriously? I tend to grab any hobby by it's ears and shake the stuffing out of it, before moving on to the next hobby!!!

 

[Dr.T]

Actually it is not normal, in that multiple adolescent cockerels running around in a flock without a dominant flock master and older hens to keep them in check, probably in a limited area with little place to get away from them, is not normal..... and it will get worse.
Your pullets are not sexually mature and do not know what to do and yes, to all intents and purposes, they are being raped....in the sense that they are being forced to have sex, by a snotty nosed teenager that is at the whim of his hormones. You may also witness more than one of them holding a pullet down and taking turns to mate her repetitively....and there is a risk that she will get injured because she will be terrified and struggling to get away from them. Occasionally they end up getting scalped with their skull exposed or gashes under their wings as well as lost feathers and raw skin. If the problem is really bad, some get depressed and won't leave the roost. The stress of this situation also leaved them prone to other ailments and it is not a healthy situation.
When a pullet/hen is ready to mate, she will squat close to the ground with her wings out to spread the weight of a rooster on her back, to prevent injury. She will do this for a rooster she respects. A good rooster will woo her with treats and a little dance and find good nesting spots for her to lay her eggs, so that he earns her respect. A good rooster would also chase off horrid little oiks like these and not allow them to treat his hens like this. In the absence of a flock master, it is your job to protect your hens. The best way that you can do this is to remove those juvenile males and put them in a bachelor pad at least until the first flush of hormones is over, but that may be 6 months to a year.
Another option is to butcher and eat them.... I find it is so much less difficult to contemplate this when I see them being so ruthless with the pullets.
At 14 weeks they are only going to get worse.
I am also concerned about your handicapped Ranger.... This is the age that Marek's disease often shows up and usually the stress of having so many young males in the flock is a trigger for it. Is he lame/uncoordinated?

Thank you for the very wonderful and helpful information!!! All of my cockerels except one, my Blue Andalusian, Sparky, who is very well-mannered will be going to a bachelor pad that I am constructing today. I have a Brahma in isolation currently after his poor behavior the past two days.

 

[Dr.T]

My rapist, trouble-making, always-causing-drama cockerels awaiting their new bachelor pad accommodations

 

[MzGina]

View attachment 1201320 My rapist, trouble-making, always-causing-drama cockerels awaiting their new bachelor pad accommodations

I Love it!! Mine have been behaving today.. going to build a bachelor pad in a few weeks