Question about chicken behavior

[mrsmaonaigh]

Originally we had a flock of 12. Out of those 12, 4 were roosters. We have one hen that is definitely the alpha hen. She takes crap from no chicken, male or female. The majority of the flock follows her but two hens seem to go off and do their own thing. Out of the 4 roosters, two were older and two were younger. One of the older roosters was with the main flock and the other older rooster hung out with the other two hens. The two younger stayed with the main flock. 4 roosters were just way too many so we killed off 3. We killed the two older ones and one of the younger ones that seemed to be really aggressive (oh he was such a mean one to all the girls). Now we have one rooster who is younger and he pretty much follows the flock around. Will he step up to be the alpha male? The alpha hen snaps at him all the time and he runs off. I'm just wondering if we made a mistake in not keeping one of the older roosters. He seems so passive for a rooster. Its too late now but so we will know in the future. Thanks everyone!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yes, he should become alpha when he is older. Every once in awhile though, you'll have a stubborn hen that will not submit to him. My rooster was younger than all my hens, and he climbed the pecking order one hen at a time.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Sometimes young roosters are like pathetic, insecure, teenagers (no offense to any teenagers; not all teenagers are pathetic or insecure). They simply haven't figured out who they are yet (both insecure teenagers and young roosters). Once they do, they will get to doing their job.

 

[mrsmaonaigh]

I'm glad to hear that. He was the prettiest one out of the bunch too. My back yard is definitely quieter now with the other three gone!