He no longer sees those cockerels as his babies, he sees them as his competitors. If that were a wild feral flock he'd run them out of his flock where they form a bachelor flock in a different territory until they grow up enough to try to attract their own girls to make their own flock. Him chasing the boys is normal behavior.
Are you sure it is the rooster causing the problems with the hens? It sounds like this is a new thing, that they have been fine for months. It's as those cockerels are hitting puberty that the problem came up. This type of feather loss is often a cockerel problem, not a rooster problem. Cockerels often have horrible technique, are often very energetic, and can't get the girls to cooperate so they resort to force. My hens often run to the rooster when cockerels are bothering them for him to protect them from the cockerels. It sounds like he is doing his job protecting his hens and people want to take his head off? What a cold cruel world.
There is another possibility. With those cockerels hitting puberty the rooster sees competition from them. That type of competition can cause him to be more active with the hens. Mating is how he demonstrates his dominance over the flock.
In either scenario the solution is clear to me. You need to keep those boys for another two months so you can relocate them. You've rejected all other possible solutions I can come up with. Build them a bachelor pad. Make it big enough so they have room but permanently separate them from the rest of the flock.
Are you sure it is the rooster causing the problems with the hens? It sounds like this is a new thing, that they have been fine for months. It's as those cockerels are hitting puberty that the problem came up. This type of feather loss is often a cockerel problem, not a rooster problem. Cockerels often have horrible technique, are often very energetic, and can't get the girls to cooperate so they resort to force. My hens often run to the rooster when cockerels are bothering them for him to protect them from the cockerels. It sounds like he is doing his job protecting his hens and people want to take his head off? What a cold cruel world.
There is another possibility. With those cockerels hitting puberty the rooster sees competition from them. That type of competition can cause him to be more active with the hens. Mating is how he demonstrates his dominance over the flock.
In either scenario the solution is clear to me. You need to keep those boys for another two months so you can relocate them. You've rejected all other possible solutions I can come up with. Build them a bachelor pad. Make it big enough so they have room but permanently separate them from the rest of the flock.
