Rooster Behavior

[Emk806]

I have 5 hens(cochin,wynadotte,polish,brahma) and one Americana rooster all 4 months old also have 4 silkie chicks still only about 2 months that I dont know if are hens or roosters. We did have another cochin rooster for the longest time that we thought was a hen bc he didnt crow. Both were attacking and mounting our other cochin hen we thought if we got rid of the cochin rooster the americana wouldnt be so aggressive. The americana is still attacking the cochin hen very bad all the time to the point that she doesnt come out of the coop in the morning and tries to stay up high and is seeming to not come down even to eat or drink. I have to go and get her out. I know that with the pecking order he will attack all of them at least a little but he especially seeks her and doesnt even want her out of the coop. After the cochin is down the brahma hen will come and mount her too. I dont understand why he has so much aggression towards ONE of the hens and just a little towards the rest and not even towards the dominent hen. what is the problem??? HELPPP

 

[teach1rusl]

I'm not sure WHY some roosters choose to harrass certain hens??? I went through that two years ago and will not do it again. In my case it was my EE hen that was being harrassed, and like your girl, she took to staying in the coop. If she saw me, she would rush over to me and fly up to my arms to get away from him. He ended up being rehomed, because my hens are more important to me than any rooster.
Your rooster is of the age where he is VERY hormonal. You'll likely have to deal with this for the next year, but he will probably outgrow this stage eventually. Some cockerels/roosters are much gentler and more mannerly than others. I found a mature roo who treats my hens very well, and who doesn't mate them unless they're willing. Stressed hens don't lay well. And obviously if she's not able to make it to food and water, her health will eventually pay the price.

 

[Emk806]

Okay thanks for your help.. She does do that to me also if she sees me she follows me to the porch and stays there all day if she can meanwhile the rooster is trying to come and get her down. I'm not sure what to do if I should keep him or not. I don't want any of their health to suffer. I haven't gotten any eggs yet, they are still young. But I definitely don't want him to make that prolonged. I do like the fact that he would protect them from an actual threat but I don't know if I really need him at all :/

 

[teach1rusl]

I don't think we need a rooster, as my lead hen pretty much served that role before we got a rooster - my hens automatically moved in close to shelter if hawks were overhead before I ever had a roo. But we do enjoy listening to the sound of crowing

I just decided I don't care for YOUNG roosters - I guess I don't have the patience to wait out their terrible behavior stage...it just stresses me out too much seeing my hens mishandled. Maybe if (back then) we'd had a large flock of hens, it would have been different. (like you, I only had 5 pullets/hens at the time). He was rehomed to a family with 12 hens, so he could spread his attention out a lot more until he matured.
A few months later, we chose a mature roo of about 2 years (a bantam d'uccle actually) who was known to mannerly around people and hens. ALL of my girls loved him within a day of introduction (he was separated from them for 2-3 weeks initially through wire). It was such a different (more positive) experience for us to watch. No hens running in terror, no feather grabbing/wrestling them down, no combs injured, and my EE was happy... Our little roo is four this year, and I've never regretted adding him