Pecking order?

[jirimiah]

I have 2 roosters and 4 hens 22 weeks old and i got them all at the same time from the same place that free range all day and go in the coop at night. My problem is one of my roosters bites one of my hens neck and sometimes pulls feathers. I know he is the dominate rooster because he will chase the other chickens off or just let them know who is boss but I have never seen him do anything physical to any of the other chickens even the other roo, so is it just that hen is bottom of the pecking order or is something else going on? On a side note of course it happens to be my favorite hen this roo doesn't appear to like. And when I say bite I mean grabs and holds and shakes his head

 

[Pork Pie]

I'd say its a rather clumsy attempt at mounting (or the beginnings thereof).

A word of caution on keeping 2 rooster with only 4 hens: The recommended ratio is 1:10, i.e. 1 rooster for 10 hens. Ideally, you will need another 6 hens even if you are planning on keeping just one rooster. With such a dearth of hens, they are likely to be over-mated and this will cause distress and possibly injury to your hens and heighten tensions between your two roosters - not good karma for your flock.

CT

 

[jirimiah]

Thanks for the info I have 12 more hens that will be ready for introduction in a few more weeks....do you think I need more than that?

 

[Pork Pie]

You can always see how things work out with 2 roosters and 16 hens. If the hens are getting stressed by the two roosters, then either get rid of one, or bring a few more chickens into the flock.

Good luck
CT

 

[jirimiah]

Hopefully it works out I really can't add more and I'd hate to get rid of my either of my roos although I would if I had to..I just wouldn't like it

 

[Pork Pie]

I guess if your roosters have sorted out who is in charge, and there are 16 girls, combined with free ranging, you should be ok.
On Thursday, my two young roosters (4.5 month old brothers) decided to have a real ding-dong. Blood all over the place as you can imagine. Thank goodness i had planned to give them away the same day, so at least i won't have that kind of thing going on again!

Good luck!
CT

 

[donrae]

Mature roosters are dominant over hens and not involved in the hens' social structure. But, you're not dealing with mature birds here, your birds are at the tail end of adolescence. What you've got is a cockerel trying to mate and a pullet that either isn't mature, doesn't understand, or has not submitted to him yet. Those things are going to get worse before they get better, especially when both roosters start trying to mate at the same time.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

x2, you will probably change your mind when your young hens are constantly screaming and hiding in the coop.