Rooster behavior

Loweryfarm

In the Brooder
Nov 16, 2021
15
30
36
Indianapolis, Indiana
Hi, I’m curious about the behaviors of my roosters.

I had a white RIR first and he’s the alpha
Then after getting a few hens I got a black silkie rooster.
When those two met the WRIR proceeded to try and mate with the smaller BSR all day long. BSR definitely fought it and screamed a bunch at first then kinda submitted.
I figure that was WRIR’s way of making the BSR submit and letting him know he’s the alpha rooster.

But they have weird behavior now about a month later:

The WRIR mates almost whoever he wants all the time in the hens and the BSR mates with a few here and there, usually whoever will let him 2-3 and maybe he can force one of the smaller ones to let him.

The WRIR seems fine with letting him
Mate any of the hens bc he’s never ran over in defense of the hens when they scream as the BSR tries to mate them, BUT the BSR almost always runs over and Pecks at the WRIR when it’s trying to mate any hen, and the WRIR either gets finished before BSR gets there or is interrupted and most of the time he walks off almost dazed and confused as to what just happens but one time I saw him chase the silkie and try to mate him again.

Any thoughts on this behavior? Does the WRIR just think the silkie is a hen?

Also just a fun fact but I’ve seen BSR go after my Black orps who aren’t mature enough bc they’re too young still but are 4x bigger than him and it’s hilarious.
 
You are observing the delicate balance when you have two mature cockerels/roosters. You've witnessed the submissive/dominant dance that these two participate in. That your alpha allows the submissive to mate in his presence indicates (to me at least) that the pecking order between the two is a fluid thing and that an understanding or compromise has been made between them.
Well done.
 
So neither poster thinks it is a problem that hens are 'screaming' when rude little male birds are forcing themselves on females.
May I refer to my post in another thread:
"
That is the problem, it has become normal.
But this behaviour isn't normal among wild birds (ducks are another matter).
Wild birds grow the most attractive plumage to find mates ; the one with the best wing-drumming or song, the best posturing or dance, the one who has the best territory and provides the best treats, or builds the nicest nest or bower, wins the privilege to mate, and ONLY AT THE RIGHT TIME OF YEAR will the female cooperate with mating. You don't have robins and pheasants sitting in a nest in the winter or spring in the ice and snow, popping out eggs year round.
No.
We humans have messed with this species, bred and domesticated them to the point they lay eggs most UNNATURALLY year round.
We stupid people allow hens to be abused and harrassed by male birds that would NEVER have succeeded in winning a mate in the wild, and thus abusive male genes are passed down. And we do it for reasons like, 'oh he's prettyyyy', or we like the egg colour we think he'll produce, forgetting or not even considering how he acts.
SAVVY breeders breed for behaviour and performance, as well as production, and for the good of the great and small creatures we care for the welfare of.".
 
So neither poster thinks it is a problem that hens are 'screaming' when rude little male birds are forcing themselves on females.
May I refer to my post in another thread:
"
That is the problem, it has become normal.
But this behaviour isn't normal among wild birds (ducks are another matter).
Wild birds grow the most attractive plumage to find mates ; the one with the best wing-drumming or song, the best posturing or dance, the one who has the best territory and provides the best treats, or builds the nicest nest or bower, wins the privilege to mate, and ONLY AT THE RIGHT TIME OF YEAR will the female cooperate with mating. You don't have robins and pheasants sitting in a nest in the winter or spring in the ice and snow, popping out eggs year round.
No.
We humans have messed with this species, bred and domesticated them to the point they lay eggs most UNNATURALLY year round.
We stupid people allow hens to be abused and harrassed by male birds that would NEVER have succeeded in winning a mate in the wild, and thus abusive male genes are passed down. And we do it for reasons like, 'oh he's prettyyyy', or we like the egg colour we think he'll produce, forgetting or not even considering how he acts.
SAVVY breeders breed for behaviour and performance, as well as production, and for the good of the great and small creatures we care for the welfare of.".
dude, if you want to raise feral chickens, cool. We're talking about domesticated birds, whers these behaviors are part of their adaptation. No amount of keyboard activism and all caps sentences will change that these behaviors are to be expected from chickens, and that people trying to project human morality on chickens is just going to end up stressing them out.
 

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