Rooster behavior

[LunarRayne]

I have a total of 3 roosters that are fully crowing and 1 bantam that started 2 days ago. The oldest rooster (Ki-Ki... My MIL named him and she is Mexican) has 1 hen and will not mate with any other. The other rooster is the Alpha BR (We call him Alpha) to the rest of the flock. So that leaves the 3 rooster my other BR. (We call him Beta.)

Will an older rooster pester a younger roo or will he pester the hen. Alpha and Beta were hatched March 2. Beta does not really have a "flock" of his own and seems very out of place. He is actually kinda mean. We are trying to fix this problem.

Beta chases one of my silkies(I have 2 which I hope are a pair). I think the silkie is a roo, but I am still unsure as it has not tried to crow. I have posted pics, but they are hatchery quality, which makes it harder to tell. He will chase Fuzzy everywhere. He leaves all the other bantams alone. If Fuzzy gets close to the food, the hens, the water, etc., Beta chases and pecks at him. As of yet, no harm has come, the pecks have never drawn blood, and Fuzzy stays away for the most part. (Oh and Fuzzy was hatched around April 14, I think)

So My questions are:

1. Is this normal behavior for a rooster that feels out of place?
2. Is this an indicator of the silkies gender?
3. Should I do more to separate these two? (As of right now they have 1 acre to roam around, with nothing separating them.)
4. Should I worry this behavior will get more violent? I really don't want him hurting my flock.


Thanks for any help and advice.

 

[triplepurpose]

It's really hard to give a straight and simple answer to any of your points, LunarRayne. Individuals vary so much, even within breeds, and all of this can also shift (one way or another) as the birds grow and mature. If they are drawing blood, definitely separate--I'd have to say, anything else is a judgement call based on direct observation that takes the personalities of the individuals and the circumstances into account. I still have to struggle with this stuff all the time, and I've been doing this for years.

Maybe somebody else can shed some more light for you, but I'm afraid that's the best I can offer.

Good luck!

 

[sourland]

Yes
Maybe
Yes
This behavior is almost guaranteed to escalate. Too many roosters and too few hens.

 

[theoldchick]

I have zero tolerance for a rooster who is aggressive towards a hen.

 

[teach1rusl]

How many hens total do you have between the two barred rocks (not counting the old rooster's hen)??? And discounting either silkie.

 

[LunarRayne]

There are 4 hens around their age and several a 2 months younger. Until I got the silkies the BR roos had 2 hens each and left each other alone. Once the silkie came, Beta turned violent.

I kinda thought it was a lack of hens for too, except wouldn't they have fought for the last month? The have been crowing for around 6 weeks. This behavior started this week. I should mention, my oldest pullet (also a BR) is not laying in the nest box, but that does not mean she is not laying. My Aunt has a BR her age,from the same order/hatchery, that is already laying. She does not leave Alpha's side and he leaves the other 3 hens, also showing signs of laying now/soon, alone. He doesn't not care for them and even chases them away. Shouldn't Beta have 3 hens, then?

We were just outside with them and have decided to tie him tomorrow. He picked up one of my banty hens, was shaking her, and running through the yard with her. I think we will keep him separate and try to fatten him up some. I have no problem eating my own chickens, as I have done it before. I will let him grow some more first and see if staking him out will help some. Oh, I should mention, I don't want to eat him, but if is attitude does not change, I will have no choice. He also tried to attack my daughter. He was able to grab her finger. She is 3 and I will not tolerate that at all.

I will also mention, Alpha is very sweet. He has never (fingers crossed) attacked any other chicken. More importantly, he has never tried to attack us.

Thank you all for your advice. I do hope his attitude changes. Maybe his hormones will balance out in a few weeks.

 

[teach1rusl]

Sounds like a good plan to me Lunar. Hormones or not, I couldn't handle a rooster attacking other birds, much less people. Keep the roo who is well mannered.

 

[theoldchick]

Quote:
Yes, keep the rooster who is well mannered. I recently had to make this decision. I had two roosters and 16 hens. One rooster had a habit of grabbing the hens by the head and dragging them around. Never challenged the other rooster-same age sibling-but when I rehomed the meany I was surprised how much the flock settled down. I have yet see the remaining rooster drag a hen around by the head.