Roo Behavior at 5 1/2 Months

[france]

We have the various breeds listed below. Two of the silkies are roos and one of the white crested polish is suspect. The two silkie roos now spend their morning grabbing the necks of the hens. It is almost like a tag team effort. No dancing, just attack, grab and pull feathers. The hens scream and run. Two of the orpingtons hide on their roost. Is this normal roo behavior? What is next in the progression of roo behavior? The roo who started to crow first used to dance but now that the second roo crows the dancing has stopped and now the grab thing.

 

[jenjscott]

Its a competition. They will usually cool out if you remove one of the roosters. Sometimes they settle down with age. What is your rooster to hen ratio? Too many roos and you will always have naked hens.

 

[france]

I have 16 chickens total. 2 Silkie roos and 1 possible WCP (based on photos I posted here) who is showing no signs of roo behavior yet at all. If we do not count the WCP then thats about 7 hens per roo.

I actually have ordered a second small coop. I am not sure how I am going to break them up yet. I was going to move 1 roo into the second coop with the 2 silkie hens and the 2 WCP hens. But if the other WCP is a hen then they will not fit. It is a small coop. My next thought, which makes the most sense, is to just send one silkie roo away via craigslist, move 2 silkie hens into the small coop with all 3 WCP and leave the rest with the remaining silkie roo in the big coop. The ones in the big coop will have a run but allowed to free range when we are home. Off to craigslist....