Question regarding young roosters!

[Apags18]

Sorry this is a little long! We have two 7 month old roosters, Nicodemus (or Nico), a Buff Orpington and Graybeard, a Green Queen. They grew up together in the same clutch. They had another brother in their clutch who was a crossbeak, and we found a good home for him. We would like to keep Nico for our flock and some day find a great flock of his own for Graybeard. Around Aug/Sept while the boys were still in with our original flock of 9 hen they really started trying to mate with the girls, as expected, but all the hens, except one (who was the fourth member of their clutch) started molting. I know the boys probably didn’t understand, as they were actively trying to mate with the hens who had pin feathers sticking out of their bodies. We decided to separate the two roosters from the hens until their molts were complete. We also decided to keep both roosters for now so that they have each other for company. We have now been trying to slowly introduce Nico back to the hens as they are done molting and most are back to laying eggs again. Yesterday we let Nico out of the pen so he would be able to actively interact with the hens, when Graybeard sneaked out of the pen too. Nico actually just stood around initially watching the hens when Graybeard ran past him (when I noticed he had gotten out) and then Nico followed suit. They both went crazy going from one hen to the next. Actually both boys tried mating with one hen at once. I tried running after them to grab them and put them back in the barn when I noticed Nico grab ahold of one of our hens who has had heath issues this year and stopped laying eggs back in March. I grabbed her from him and put her inside the coop where they couldn’t get to her. She was breathing really heavily and I thought she would go into shock. She didn’t and was fine a few min later. Graybeard also caused bleeding on the comb of another hen. I was then able to grab both boys and get them inside the barn and away from the hens. So my question is: I know they are still young and hormonal, but did I do them an injustice by keeping them away from the hens all this time. Is it ever too late for a rooster to learn his manners with his hens? I would really like to find a good flock for Graybeard if we can integrate Nico into our flock. Worst case there is a farm about five hours from us who has a huge bachelor flock and will take in any roosters needing a home. I just don’t love the idea of driving them out that far. I just want both boys to be successful as leaders in their own flock, but I’m worried now that maybe I made a mistake in separating them while they were still young. Nico is a sweetheart and gives me wing dances and tidbits for me. Graybeard has alway been a little more shy but will eat treats out of our hands and will wing dance every once in a while. I just want them to live happy lives. Anyone know if roosters who have always been in batchelor flocks can be a kind and respectful flock leader to their hens? Pictures of the boys below. Thank you for any advice!!!

 

[Nomadicus]

Hello and Welcome to BYC. Glad to have you here with us in this fun and poultry loving community.

 

[GodLovesU]

This post is in the wrong forum.I reported it to a moderator,who will move it.Good luck with your roosters!

 

[Apags18]

This post is in the wrong forum.I reported it to a moderator,who will move it.Good luck with your roosters!

Ok great thank you!

 

[Mrs. K]

Well I think it is in the right forum? It is about flock management. Maybe they already moved it?

First off - no, you did not ruin your roosters by separating them from the girls, and trust me, the hens deeply appreciated it.

The thing is a lot of roosters are not great roosters, and a lot of them are terrible. While the wing dancing for you is cute, it is not a good sign. And neither is eating out of your hands. Cockerels are not like puppies, in which if you treat them well, they become life long friends. In the chicken world, respect equals space. A cockerel that has no respect for you as a chick, often will become aggressive.

This forum is full of posts where the darlings become the nightmare in what seems to be an instant. Probably not, but inexperienced people don't really pick up on the cues that a rooster is becoming aggressive. The thing is, cockerel chicks are just darling, they are brave and appear friendly. People fall in love with them. But they change with maturity, and they don't go back. I enjoy my cockerels when they are in the darling stage, but I don't expect them to stay there.

There are a lot of theories about roosters, as in "if you do this, then they will act like that". Some work part of the time, but a lot of behavior is genetic and if they are genetically aggressive they can ruin the whole chicken experience regardless what you do.

You say your hens molted, so they are older, that should help. And both of them out at the same time, might have caused the problems as they were egging each other on. Try again with just one out, late afternoon. Separate that hen has health issues away from the flock.

Now if the hens like him, he should follow the girls back to the coop at dark. He may not get to roost with them, but will go into the coop. If he doesn't, try the other rooster.

The big thing with raising up roosters, is there is a very good chance that neither will work. Sometimes that happens. The best way to get a good rooster is to NOT keep a rotten one.

Mrs K

 

[Apags18]

Well I think it is in the right forum? It is about flock management. Maybe they already moved it?

First off - no, you did not ruin your roosters by separating them from the girls, and trust me, the hens deeply appreciated it.

The thing is a lot of roosters are not great roosters, and a lot of them are terrible. While the wing dancing for you is cute, it is not a good sign. And neither is eating out of your hands. Cockerels are not like puppies, in which if you treat them well, they become life long friends. In the chicken world, respect equals space. A cockerel that has no respect for you as a chick, often will become aggressive.

This forum is full of posts where the darlings become the nightmare in what seems to be an instant. Probably not, but inexperienced people don't really pick up on the cues that a rooster is becoming aggressive. The thing is, cockerel chicks are just darling, they are brave and appear friendly. People fall in love with them. But they change with maturity, and they don't go back. I enjoy my cockerels when they are in the darling stage, but I don't expect them to stay there.

There are a lot of theories about roosters, as in "if you do this, then they will act like that". Some work part of the time, but a lot of behavior is genetic and if they are genetically aggressive they can ruin the whole chicken experience regardless what you do.

You say your hens molted, so they are older, that should help. And both of them out at the same time, might have caused the problems as they were egging each other on. Try again with just one out, late afternoon. Separate that hen has health issues away from the flock.

Now if the hens like him, he should follow the girls back to the coop at dark. He may not get to roost with them, but will go into the coop. If he doesn't, try the other rooster.

The big thing with raising up roosters, is there is a very good chance that neither will work. Sometimes that happens. The best way to get a good rooster is to NOT keep a rotten one.

Mrs K

Thank you so much for commenting! I’ve def been stressed about it. Nico, the buff rooster, and the one we’d like to keep, will chase the girls a bit, but then does stop and just stands around with them and gives them wing dances and tries to find food for them. A couple of the girls have squatted for him as well. It’s the green Queen rooster, Graybeard, who, the second he has contact with the hens, is chasing them and pinning them to the ground and mating. He’s very very aggressive. I wanted to try and give him a few more chances to see if he will calm down, but not sure it’s worth it. He doesn’t even take a second to stop and try to “flirt” with the hens. He’s just running after them, grabbing them, and forcing himself on them. It’s def hard to watch.
Now our situation is different in that we have a special needs hen, who was hit by an Amish buggy when she was 3 months old. She is now 2.5 years old. She healed up beautifully and lives full time and happily with her sisters. She can get around on her own but walks with a limp. She gets up on the roosting bars on her own as well and scratches the ground and can dust bathe. She does like to spend a little bit of the day laying on the ground. I’m guessing it’s more comfortable for her feet (which is what we’re broken in the accident). I’m a little worried the rooster may take her laying down as her squatting for him and she could end up being overly mated with. He has matted with her a couple times before she started molting this fall and she seemed to handle it well, but I don’t want her getting worn out either.
Our other hen who I said was “sick” is my other concern. So I said she was sick because she’s been “off” all year. She’s also 2.5 years old and most of her laying time so far she has had an issue with soft shell or shell-less eggs. All the girls have an abundance of oyster shells and they were eating layer feed (this was before we had babies and roosters, not they are on a grower feed but still have access to oyster shells). None of the other girls were having this issue. At first I thought it was because she was a new layer but as that next year went by she started laying more and more soft eggs until this past Feb/Mar when she stopped laying eggs completely (she was 1.5 years old at that time). Then in June she laid a lash egg, then in Sept had sour crop. We don’t have a vet near us nor a vet who would see her. I did a lot of research on here and on Facebook and online about how to treat the different ailments she was experiencing. Each time she was separated and treated and each time she recovered and returned to her usual, laidback and friendly personality. We call her the worm queen because she loves finding worms and will often steal them from her sisters when she gets a chnace. She would even be the last in the coop at night trying to find any last worms she could. While she was sick she stopped her worm search and even stopped showing interest in worms. Now she back to her worm searches! She even molted this year too. The only thing is that she hasn’t returned to laying eggs as everyone else has and her comb and wattles are still dried, more pale, and more “shriveled” than they were when she was younger. I put vitamins and electrolytes in her water periodically as well. I just don’t know what else to do with her. One of the roosters had chased her and grabbed her feathers the other day when they were both out. She was tying to get away from them so I was able to grab her and get her to a place they couldn’t touch her. She was gasping for air when I picked her up. I though maybe she was going into shock but within a couple minutes she seemed fine again and has been completely herself since. When she stopped laying eggs earlier this year she stopped squatting as well. So I guess I was curious if the rooster would eventually be able to tell that she no longer lays eggs and would just leave her alone? She’s a sweet girl and I don’t know what is going on with her, but I just don’t want her bothered by a rooster if she is no longer laying eggs and wants nothing to do with being mated with.
Again sorry that is so long but those two hens are our main concern with the rooster. I think the rest of the hens would adapt to him but we’ve had our hens for 2.5 years now (there are a few that are a year and a half old and one new layer from this year) and they are loved members of our flock and this is their home. So if it just doesn’t work out then the boys will find a new home.
Haha again sorry that was long but just wanted to fully explain our situation!!

 

[GodLovesU]

Well I think it is in the right forum? It is about flock management. Maybe they already moved it?

It was moved already.It was originally in the introductions forum.

 

[gimmie birdies]

The best way to tame roosters is when they are younger (7-9 weeks old) Remove them from hens their own age and put them in with older hens. The older hens will beat them up and they get a pecking order first. Then when they figure they can take on older hens to breed they will be more polite about it and it is usually invited. If roosters get to be raised with hens their age the whole time they get too big of egos.

 

[Mrs. K]

Please don’t think I am being teachers-ish, it is hard to read long posts if you don’t break them into smaller chunks. I like to read long posts, because it really explains the situation.

I think you should let the Green rooster go, separate him from the flock until you either get someone to take him or cull him otherwise. But get him out of the flock. The more roosters you have, the more problems you have.

You can try the remaining one, see if that works. But an all hen flock is nice, and it might be with your favorite girls, you would be happiest without a rooster. The question you need to answer is why do I want a rooster. Many flocks are very successful and peaceful without a rooster.

Mrs K

 

[Bigbluefrog]

Thank you so much for commenting! I’ve def been stressed about it. Nico, the buff rooster, and the one we’d like to keep, will chase the girls a bit, but then does stop and just stands around with them and gives them wing dances and tries to find food for them. A couple of the girls have squatted for him as well. It’s the green Queen rooster, Graybeard, who, the second he has contact with the hens, is chasing them and pinning them to the ground and mating. He’s very very aggressive. I wanted to try and give him a few more chances to see if he will calm down, but not sure it’s worth it. He doesn’t even take a second to stop and try to “flirt” with the hens. He’s just running after them, grabbing them, and forcing himself on them. It’s def hard to watch.
Now our situation is different in that we have a special needs hen, who was hit by an Amish buggy when she was 3 months old. She is now 2.5 years old. She healed up beautifully and lives full time and happily with her sisters. She can get around on her own but walks with a limp. She gets up on the roosting bars on her own as well and scratches the ground and can dust bathe. She does like to spend a little bit of the day laying on the ground. I’m guessing it’s more comfortable for her feet (which is what we’re broken in the accident). I’m a little worried the rooster may take her laying down as her squatting for him and she could end up being overly mated with. He has matted with her a couple times before she started molting this fall and she seemed to handle it well, but I don’t want her getting worn out either.
Our other hen who I said was “sick” is my other concern. So I said she was sick because she’s been “off” all year. She’s also 2.5 years old and most of her laying time so far she has had an issue with soft shell or shell-less eggs. All the girls have an abundance of oyster shells and they were eating layer feed (this was before we had babies and roosters, not they are on a grower feed but still have access to oyster shells). None of the other girls were having this issue. At first I thought it was because she was a new layer but as that next year went by she started laying more and more soft eggs until this past Feb/Mar when she stopped laying eggs completely (she was 1.5 years old at that time). Then in June she laid a lash egg, then in Sept had sour crop. We don’t have a vet near us nor a vet who would see her. I did a lot of research on here and on Facebook and online about how to treat the different ailments she was experiencing. Each time she was separated and treated and each time she recovered and returned to her usual, laidback and friendly personality. We call her the worm queen because she loves finding worms and will often steal them from her sisters when she gets a chnace. She would even be the last in the coop at night trying to find any last worms she could. While she was sick she stopped her worm search and even stopped showing interest in worms. Now she back to her worm searches! She even molted this year too. The only thing is that she hasn’t returned to laying eggs as everyone else has and her comb and wattles are still dried, more pale, and more “shriveled” than they were when she was younger. I put vitamins and electrolytes in her water periodically as well. I just don’t know what else to do with her. One of the roosters had chased her and grabbed her feathers the other day when they were both out. She was tying to get away from them so I was able to grab her and get her to a place they couldn’t touch her. She was gasping for air when I picked her up. I though maybe she was going into shock but within a couple minutes she seemed fine again and has been completely herself since. When she stopped laying eggs earlier this year she stopped squatting as well. So I guess I was curious if the rooster would eventually be able to tell that she no longer lays eggs and would just leave her alone? She’s a sweet girl and I don’t know what is going on with her, but I just don’t want her bothered by a rooster if she is no longer laying eggs and wants nothing to do with being mated with.
Again sorry that is so long but those two hens are our main concern with the rooster. I think the rest of the hens would adapt to him but we’ve had our hens for 2.5 years now (there are a few that are a year and a half old and one new layer from this year) and they are loved members of our flock and this is their home. So if it just doesn’t work out then the boys will find a new home.
Haha again sorry that was long but just wanted to fully explain our situation!!

I have a 7 month old rooster that chases the hens and then mates by pulling the feather, he even made ones comb bleed.
One little hen is missing feathers on her wings and head. None on her belly.

Yet the cockerel is good with the other hens. Does the mating dance, stops squabbles between the ladies, i watched him fly 50 feet to get to the ladies when he heard a distress call.
So some good qualities.
He is young and hormonal.
The one he likes to chase he is a bully to.
So he went into a time out for 1 week.
Today I let him out with supervision. Little pecker went after the tiny hen again pulled a feather out. So back into time out.
I am here looking for wisdom - i might cull him but then He might get better...
Idk
I sure would like to find a "Good" rooster.