Randy Rooster

[family farm ma]

soooo.....I've got this rooster who's extra friendly....to humans. He is really rough on the girls, though. He's very aggressive, and grabs them by the neck (no gentle pecking) before mating. Most of the hens are missing feathers on their necks, backs, and rumps. Found one of my hens with a broken neck the one morning, and suspect his overzealous advances. He is the only rooster in the flock, was raised right here from an egg, and has 18 hens with him. He was never exposed to another rooster for "proper" training. They are cooped at night, and free-range in a 1/4 acre fenced pasture with lots of tasty weeds, clippings, crumbs, etc. tossed in, along with their layer feed. Is there ANYTHING I can do to make him less rough on the girls, besides getting him out of there? Thanks!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

How old is he?

 

[DoodleRoo]

My rooster was quite naughty when he was younger (around 4-5 months old), but a few months later, he became a gentleman to the girls.

 

[theoldchick]

He might eventually learn to be a bit more gentle. Until you can limit his access to the hens to allow them to heal. In other words separate him. Good luck and keep your hens safe! And remember you don't really need a rooster to keep your hens happy.

 

[family farm ma]

Thanks Ol Grey Mare, oldchick, and DoodleRoo! He's about a year old now - 13 months. I have separated them, and he's not a happy camper, but c'est la vie. I'll try putting him back in a couple of weeks and see what happens. Maybe a time out will calm him down.

 

[chickens really]

What breed of Rooster and Hens?.....

 

[family farm ma]

He's a "red star"/barred rock cross, and the girls are several varieties - leghorn, barred rock, red star, aracauna, a couple of seabright banties, and his sister (fertilized eggs came from my daughter's flock, as I didn't have a rooster at the time). He's got quite the harem. Hope he gets with the program after solitary's over!