Rooster behavior

[Minnie2021]

I have an 18 week old RIR rooster (my first). I also have10 pullets. They all came together from a hatchery. The rooster has recently started grabbing some of the pullets by their feathers and actually will pull them out. Is this common behavior? Will it get worse or better as he matures? I could use some advice from anyone experienced with roosters.

Thanks

 

[Penpal]

No, I don't think it is normal. You will know his favorite hen because she will loose feathers on her back from his toenails.

How much room are they given. RIR need room, they don't do well confined indoors or in a run. I realize that others may have a different experience, but my RIR scouted all over the place. This is why they are excellent foragers, but any chicken can get agitated or mean if they don't have enough space.

edit. I reread that and I wonder if the pullets don't realize that he wants to mate. Even so, he may need to be separated until the girls are older.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

I have an 18 week old RIR rooster (my first). I also have10 pullets. They all came together from a hatchery. The rooster has recently started grabbing some of the pullets by their feathers and actually will pull them out. Is this common behavior? Will it get worse or better as he matures? I could use some advice from anyone experienced with roosters.

Thanks

I’d suggest separating him from the pullets until the pullets mature. Your cockerel seems to want to mate and your pullets are not fully developed to that point.
His behavior may worsen as he ages though. I would keep an eye on him once you add him back to the flock when the pullets start to lay.

 

[Shadrach]

It's normal. He's still young and hasn't quite worked out how to mate. Things will improve a little when the hens crouch for him which of course means they're ready to lay eggs.
Are any of the pullets laying?
A cockerel, which is what you have tend to start off grabbing a hen by anything he can get his beak on.
They learn quite quickly to grab a beakfull of feathers at the back of the hens neck. This works if the hen crouches but often the hen will just pull away and will in the process lose a few feathers sometimes.
The next stage can be tricky and that's after the neck grab the cockerel has to get his feet on the hens shoulders. This can be pretty funny to watch, a lot fall off the first few attempts.
Eventually most of the hens (once laying) will accept him as their male and will crouch and everything goes a lot more smoothly.
Once mature and established your by now rooster should walk up behind the hen and bump her rear end with his chest. If she crouches, they'll mate. If not the rooster will probaby try another hen.

Something one does have to watch out for with young cockerels is they can grab the hens comb and this can be a problem. A few feathers isn't really a problem.

 

[fluffycrow]

It's normal, males tend to reach sexual maturity before the boys. Right now, your pullets seem to have no desire to squat for him. He will also be quite clumsy in his mating attempts. Typically, there's a lot of noise in this early stage mating game. If you do not wish to separate them, be careful of the pullets' combs. Those are much more of a problem compared to the feathers. It's not unheard of for the inexperienced males to grab onto the comb; sometimes even grown (yet immature) birds will. The pullets will scream equally, if they do not wish to be mated

 

[Minnie2021]

No, I don't think it is normal. You will know his favorite hen because she will loose feathers on her back from his toenails.

How much room are they given. RIR need room, they don't do well confined indoors or in a run. I realize that others may have a different experience, but my RIR scouted all over the place. This is why they are excellent foragers, but any chicken can get agitated or mean if they don't have enough space.

edit. I reread that and I wonder if the pullets don't realize that he wants to mate. Even so, he may need to be separated until the girls are older.

 

[Minnie2021]

They are kept in a 16x26 hoop coop. They will be outside come spring

 

[Minnie2021]

It's normal, males tend to reach sexual maturity before the boys. Right now, your pullets seem to have no desire to squat for him. He will also be quite clumsy in his mating attempts. Typically, there's a lot of noise in this early stage mating game. If you do not wish to separate them, be careful of the pullets' combs. Those are much more of a problem compared to the feathers. It's not unheard of for the inexperienced males to grab onto the comb; sometimes even grown (yet immature) birds will. The pullets will scream equally, if they do not wish to be mated

Thank you- very helpful

 

[Minnie2021]

It's normal. He's still young and hasn't quite worked out how to mate. Things will improve a little when the hens crouch for him which of course means they're ready to lay eggs.
Are any of the pullets laying?
A cockerel, which is what you have tend to start off grabbing a hen by anything he can get his beak on.
They learn quite quickly to grab a beakfull of feathers at the back of the hens neck. This works if the hen crouches but often the hen will just pull away and will in the process lose a few feathers sometimes.
The next stage can be tricky and that's after the neck grab the cockerel has to get his feet on the hens shoulders. This can be pretty funny to watch, a lot fall off the first few attempts.
Eventually most of the hens (once laying) will accept him as their male and will crouch and everything goes a lot more smoothly.
Once mature and established your by now rooster should walk up behind the hen and bump her rear end with his chest. If she crouches, they'll mate. If not the rooster will probaby try another hen.

Something one does have to watch out for with young cockerels is they can grab the hens comb and this can be a problem. A few feathers isn't really a problem.

Thank you! Really helpful