Roo too rough? Hens don’t submit?

[chubbchubb7]

i have a roo in a pen with 4 hens. Two of them aren’t missing any feathers, two are balding to the point I can now see skin. I noticed he chases them more. I am wondering if they refuse to submit to him and that is the problem? If it is then should I just move them out and use them only for eating eggs?
Any ideas are welcomed!

 

[pennyJo1960]

if you just have 4 hens way to few girls for a boy no wonder two are bald

 

[Quailberries]

Not a rooster expert, but I've heard that there's a roo to hen ratio of about 1 rooster for every 8-10 hens. If, like in your case, you have less hens, the rooster will end up mounting the hens too often and you can definitely inflict some injuries. I'd get more hens if the option is available to you...

Good luck!

 

[Mrs. K]

As the summer comes on and wanes, the feathers are getting old. Some birds have more of a tendency to have brittle feathers and show the wear from the rooster attention. So it might not be just the rooster's fault.

I agree that 4 hens per a rooster is too few hens, especially for a young rooster. Personally, if you are going to have a flock of less than a dozen, I really would not keep a rooster with them. Small flocks tend to be kept in small coop/run set ups, and I think a rooster needs quite a bit more room.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

i have a roo in a pen with 4 hens. Two of them aren’t missing any feathers, two are balding to the point I can now see skin. I noticed he chases them more. I am wondering if they refuse to submit to him and that is the problem? If it is then should I just move them out and use them only for eating eggs?
Any ideas are welcomed!

Depends on your goals.
How much space do they have, in feet by feet?
How old are these birds?
The reason to move them out is so they don't get abused...
... but better to move the male out, IMO.
If a male is chasing down females, he needs a time out.

Not a rooster expert, but I've heard that there's a roo to hen ratio of about 1 rooster for every 8-10 hens. If, like in your case, you have less hens, the rooster will end up mounting the hens too often and you can definitely inflict some injuries. I'd get more hens if the option is available to you...Good luck!

More females is rarely a solution to this situation.

The 'rooster' to hen ratio of 1:10 that is often cited is primarily for fertility efficiency in commercial breeding facilities.

It doesn't mean that if a cockbird has 10 hens that he won't abuse or over mate them.

Many breeders keep pairs, trios, quads, etc

It all depends on the temperaments of the cock and hens and sometimes housing provided.

Backyard flocks can achieve good fertility with a larger ratio.

 

[chubbchubb7]

The pen is 10x30 so there’s plenty room for more. They don’t free range because unlike the other chickens (I have another pen with another Roo + 9 hens) they don’t like to come back in. Leghorns, flighty, etc. I can add more hens since I have some pullets coming to maturing age anyways if y’all think that would help. He’s never been over aggressive in the past and has been with the 3 leghorns for 8 months or more. They’ve never lost feathers. But one leghorns is SUPER flighty, always running around crazy and the Australop always resists him. The other two allow him to mount. So that’s why I was like, is it them or him? The only other time I have had this problem was when it was him and two other Roos with a flock of like 12 hens. He wasn’t the top dog and there weren’t enough hens.

 

[Duck_life]

have this same problem but with ducks! they are either bored, not enough hens, or off on nutrients! they need their daily veggies! keep updated!

 

[aart]

The other two allow him to mount. So that’s why I was like, is it them or him?

It could be that the bare backed girls have weaker/brittle feathers that are more likely to break. And if they won't allow him to mount but he's still after them....well, I'd say it both.
Not sure what your goals are, but I'd not let a cock/erel chase down females...he would go.

 

[Ridgerunner]

i have a roo in a pen with 4 hens. Two of them aren’t missing any feathers, two are balding to the point I can now see skin. I noticed he chases them more. I am wondering if they refuse to submit to him and that is the problem? If it is then should I just move them out and use them only for eating eggs?

What are your goals? For me it is easier to give suggestions that can help you if I have an idea what you are trying to achieve. I don't like making assumptions about what you are trying to achieve. I can be kind of thick, you need to explain things for me.

Where are you, north or south of the equator? If south of the equator could it be molt related? It's a little strange that this shows up after 8 months. How old are they? Does this 8 months mean they are 8 months old or have they been laying eggs and mating for 8 months? There can be a big difference in behaviors by cockerels and pullets versus roosters and hens. If they are molting and not laying eggs he should not have that much interest in fertilizing the eggs, but it may be about something else.

Mating is not just about sex or fertilizing the eggs. It is also about dominance. The one on bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. If two are resisting them it is possible he mates them more often than the others to enforce his dominance. He may be using a different technique too if it is by force. A male's instinct (not sure if it is a cockerel or rooster) is to dominate his flock. How can he perform his flockmaster duties if the females won't listen to him? If some are resisting his dominance he could easily be paying them more attention.

When I have a problem I try to figure out if it is a single chicken problem or a flock wide problem. In this case it is two of the four females. That's not exactly a flock wide problem. The male may be at lest partially at fault but it has something to do with those two females. Whether it is something physical like brittle feathers showing up after 8 months or something behavior related I don't know.

You can have this type of problem whether you have one rooster and 25 hens or one rooster and four hens. You can have none of these problems with 25 or four hens. If you have cockerels and pullets you are more likely to have this type of problem than if you have roosters and hens. Both males and females have their parts to play, mature chickens of both sexes are better able to play their part.

You can try adding more females. It might or might not help, not because of any magic ratio of males to females but because when you add or subtract flock members you can change flock dynamics. Or you can remove those two, that will also change flock dynamics. When I got my first flock in Arkansas I had one cockerel and seven pullets, a ratio of 1 to 7. Two of the pullets became barebacked so I ate them, giving me a ratio of 1 to 5. That was the end of my barebacked problems. The chicks they hatched did not become barebacked either so I think it was probably brittle feathers.

There may be another aspect. Some females will squat for about anything in spurs, others are more discerning. Many females want the male to WOW! them with his self-confidence and magnificence. They want him to find them food, keep peace in the flock, and do all the things that a good daddy would do for his family. Cockerels often have more issues doing this than mature roosters. That's one reason maturity may be an issue. If they are immature separating them until they mature may be a solution. Some mature roosters never reach this point either, just like some men remain boys all their lives.

The other side of this is that some females will just never accept any other chicken as flock master, male or female. It's just their personality. This is rare enough that it's probably not the reason for two out of four, but you did mention that one is kind of bonkers.

Bottom line is that I don't know what the cause of your problem is so I don't know your best solution in line with your goals. I'd probably remove those two and see how the others get along and go from there. I would not want to hatch any eggs from the two barebacked ones in case it is brittle feathers which can be genetic.

Good luck!

 

[trudyg]

I was wondering about this, too. My roo is several years old and a great protector but, this year, 3 hens (now 2) have bare spots. I thought it was his spurs but they aren't that long and are not sharp. I notice that he holds these down for some time before letting them up and will grab their comb, so it's dominance related. Also, the one who resulted in the 'now 2' had a broken leg and I wonder if she struggled and he held her down, breaking the leg. He has 8 hens, which should be enough.