Question about my VERY small Roo...

[HB&B]

Ok so, I started with one roo. He is a Mexi game cock as far as I know. Hes pretty small. Well then we got a black star pullet at 7 weeks old. She was already the same size as him. Now we've gotten 6 other full grown hens who are all TWICE the size of him. I have heard on here that your supposed to have a roo that is smaller than your hens so he doesnt bully them or whatever, but is he TOO small? I dont feel like he's "manning up" and being the leader. One of the leghorn hens seems to be the boss. He doesnt seem to be breeding with any of the hens. Just wondering if this is normal

. Thanks in advance.

 

[gritsar]

How old is he? Is he crowing? They don't start to cowboy up until they are well into puberty or beyond. Once he realizes he's a rooster he'll learn to dominate the hens, even the ones much bigger than himself. It's not the size of the roo's body, it's the size of the roo in the body that counts.

 

[Smoky73]

are you sure he is not a bantam?

 

[HB&B]

He has been crowing for a while now. Pretty pathetic crow, but crowing. As far as we know hes about a year give or take. He does know that hes a roo because when I introduced the new ones he would do his little sideways step to try to get them to back off when they got too close. I don't know if hes a bantam or not. I guess thats a possibility. What age to Roo's reach their full size? I think he only stands about a foot tall. Maybe less. He seemed to be the boss when it was just the pullet, but now that we have the other full grown hens he seems overwhelmed...

 

[danischi24]

BTW, that sideways step is to try to mate with them, not chase them away. They either submit or duck away out of disinterest when a roo does this. I would vote to just let him be a chicken in the flock. He doesn't need to be the boss & if he gets desperate enough, he will mate them.

 

[HB&B]

Quote:
HAHA in that case he's been trying to "mate" with my cat

when he gets too close. HAHAHAHA