Roo hormones or just a bully?

[Melissa22]

I may have a serious roo problem. I have a flock of 15 buff orpingtons, 2 roos, 13 hens and an extra mayer meal maker that turned out to be a roo leghorn. The leghorn is not staying long even though he is a nice guy. They are about 17 weeks old. The largest buff roo has been aggressive to the hens. All of the hens try to stay out of his way, but he will just grab a hen by the wing or pull a feather out. The poor girl will just wail. He is not aggressive with me at all and will nicely eat out of my hand. I am not sure how to handle this issue. Please help.

 

[jbellccc]

I to have this problem; please someone help us understand what we are dealing with and what should we do

 

[duncan026]

I also have a situation similar. I have 12 SLW 2 roos 1 of which is very dominant the other showing interest in the ladies too. My problem is that it seems like the dominant roo is trying to kill the not so aggressive one. Is it too early to cull one of them and which one should go?

 

[Folly's place]

Adolescent cockrels, especially without adult cocks and hens to teach them better manners, can be real jerks. Some cockrels aren't nice no matter what, and some will develop better social skills over time. You will have to move cockrels on, and maybe only keep one. Any that start to think bad thoughts toward you need to be dinner, and then it depends on what your goals are with your flock. For a breeding cock, the leghorn is not the best choice here, but otherwise he might be the keeper, as long as you aren't planning to raise chicks next spring. Mary

 

[duncan026]

I forgot to mention the age is 14 weeks old and raised them all together

 

[duncan026]

So, Mary, in your opinion do you think I should cull the most aggressive of the 2?

 

[junebuggena]

Why do you want to keep one of the males? For breeding? Hatchery stock are not the best place to start if you want to breed quality birds.
Honestly, cockerels learning to mate can be very rough. They basically try to grab the hen on the back of the head/neck and jump on top and dig their spurs in to hang on. There is a lot of screaming on the pullets' part and quite a lot of frustration on the cockerel's part. It takes time for them to learn. The girls are still too young, and will be for at least another month or two. The hens need to learn to submit and be still, and the cockerels need to learn to give the girls a bit of warning first. Some boys are never very gentle when breeding.

 

[Folly's place]

If your pullets are actually being injured, I wouldn't keep a real bully. If it's just about drama, he may improve and turn out fine. Some sparring is also normal as the hormones kick in, and having plenty of space helps keep things calmer too. On the other hand, you may just have to pick one now and hope he turns out to be a good boy as he grows up. I'm dealing with the same situation here, and hope I make the best decisions too. Mary

 

[duncan026]

Well,that is my plan and I did get them from my local feed store. There are not a lot of breeders on my area and thought it was the way to go

 

[Melissa22]

The leghorn will go to a new home soon. As for the flock, i wanted to eventually breed just orpingtons. I have a small pen i can put him in for a few weeks, but did not know if that would help