Rooster behavior, is it about breed?

[Chicken_Pauper]

I am wondering a few things, please:

Maybe I am wrong, but it seems like not everyone has hens with bare backs due to the rooster mounting them, mating with them? (I have 13 hens and one rooster) So, is it a matter of size of the rooster? Or, breed of the rooster that makes him more "gentle" with the hens, while still doing his job in all ways? Or, do all of you with a rooster have hens with bare backs, if the rooster is doing his job?

Also.. I have only had one mature rooster at a time. Every time I try to add a rooster, try to keep two, a bantam and a standard or ... --- there is "turmoil", noise, fighting (bickering)... a young roo who is "run off" and outcast by the "king roo", rejected by most of the flock hens, and relegated to waiting until all the others are "in bed" for the night before he can enter the coop? Am I just not waiting long enough for the young one to mature and all to settle down? I just hate the "turmoil" and end up sending the young rooster to freezer camp in order to restore peace.

One more.. Do hens mourn the loss of their "king roo"? -- it seemed mine did when the "big guy" was gone... they all seemed off and down for a few weeks.

What kind and size of rooster will do less damage to the hens backs? What breeds seem to get along better and tolerate each other better when there are two roos? And, do the hens mourn the loss of a flock mate, in particular their "fearless leader", if lost?

Thank you very much.

 

[Judy]

You'll get different opinions and different experiences, I imagine.

I have one roo and nine hens. They do not have bare backs or ripped up feathers. One or two may have a few damaged feathers now and then, but no bare skin. He is a mutt, not people friendly but also not people aggressive, calls his girls for snacks, stands guard, etc. He's a pretty big fellow, probably the biggest I've ever had. (I started with several breeds of hatchery birds; at this point, most of my chickens are either mutts or hatchery black Australorps, all large fowl.) I gave a younger mutt roo away a few months ago because he was miserable, much as you described, an outcast, reluctant to go in at night, etc. Also, he was rough when he did manage to mate, chasing hens down and ripping at feathers. I did have two mutt roos who seemed to coexist pretty well at one time, but there were a lot more hens then, and they often free ranged, so they foraged in two or three flocks, separately. The coop and roost space are large, so perhaps they just had room to coexist separately; they certainly weren't "friends." One would chase the other away now and then. I have not seen anything I would call mourning or missing a roo, but I've read here of that happening to others.

 

[Chicken_Pauper]

Thank you, flockwatcher, I appreciate the input, and yours is always good.