Roo biting hens neck. Even saw him pull a feather out. Is this...

[ronkonkoma]

What he does when he wants to mate. He doesn't look like he's jumping on her. Just biting her back of her neck but they're only like 7 months. Is this how it starts or is he just a bully? Thanks!!

 

[BantamLover21]

What he does when he wants to mate. He doesn't look like he's jumping on her. Just biting her back of her neck but they're only like 7 months. Is this how it starts or is he just a bully? Thanks!!

It is relatively common for a rooster to become rough with hens as he sexually matures. Some roosters are rougher than others, but nearly all of them start out rather ungentlemen-like.

Eventually, the biting of the neck should progress to mounting the hens, which should crouch for him. 7 months is not too young for breeding to occur. I've had cockerels start attempting to breed hens as early as 14 weeks.

 

[krista74]

Is the cockerel 7 months old too?

If so, then yes, I would say this is the start of him showing an interest in mating, and is very normal for a cockerel whose hormones are just starting to rage and who doesn't know any better!

As they mature, roosters tend to learn the art of seduction, and will dance around your hens, dipping their wing to entice them into wanting to mate with them. At that point the hen will squat to show her acceptance to the rooster's advances, and mating will occur. He may well hold on to her neck whilst he is treading her, but it shouldn't be an overly aggressive thing.

Cockerels, on the other hand, know no better. When mine was young he had a few methods for mating: He would either surprise the girls and jump on them as they were eating, leap out at them from behind a tree and pounce on them like a tiger, lure them over for pretend non-existent food, or simply chase them down and grab hold of anything he could to pin them down and mate them!

Since he has matured though, he is lovely to them. Very gentle, and whilst he does take out feathers on their backs (sometimes right down to bare skin) it is only because he is very heavy, not because he is rough with them. They wear saddles to protect them now

- Krista

 

[mtngirl35]

Is the cockerel 7 months old too?

If so, then yes, I would say this is the start of him showing an interest in mating, and is very normal for a cockerel whose hormones are just starting to rage and who doesn't know any better!

As they mature, roosters tend to learn the art of seduction, and will dance around your hens, dipping their wing to entice them into wanting to mate with them. At that point the hen will squat to show her acceptance to the rooster's advances, and mating will occur. He may well hold on to her neck whilst he is treading her, but it shouldn't be an overly aggressive thing.

Cockerels, on the other hand, know no better. When mine was young he had a few methods for mating: He would either surprise the girls and jump on them as they were eating, leap out at them from behind a tree and pounce on them like a tiger, lure them over for pretend non-existent food, or simply chase them down and grab hold of anything he could to pin them down and mate them!

Since he has matured though, he is lovely to them. Very gentle, and whilst he does take out feathers on their backs (sometimes right down to bare skin) it is only because he is very heavy, not because he is rough with them. They wear saddles to protect them now

- Krista

Yeah, my roo was gung-ho when he was that age and my hens went bald. I moved him to a roo coop with a roo friend until he matured and raised 4 more hens to go with the 6 I had. Now he's back with his girls and much more of a gentleman.