Rooster being aggressive towards hen

[Abby32922]

I have this rooster and he is acting aggressive towards 2 of my hens. He'll peck at them and then it'll be a full blown fight. He pecks at the other rooster, too. Is there anything I can do? I don't want to kill him and I can't give him away. Thanks!

 

[sourland]

How old is he, and how many hens and roosters do you have ?

 

[Abby32922]

How old is he, and how many hens and roosters do you have ?

He is 8 week so old and I have 2 roosters ( including him ) and 4 hens. I'm going to separate the chickens into groups of 3 as soon as wee done rabbit sitting our friends bunny.

 

[Vermont Poultry]

As long as the hens are not bleeding and being constantly run down. If you notice your hens are running away from him scared without being provoked you may want to temporarily separate them for the sake of the hens. He may just be going through a "phase" which most roosters do, and it usually goes away when they mature. My Gold Laced Wyandotte was pretty aggressive at that age but he was just trying to prove who is boss. Keeping him alive is the best option, not much use for a dead 8 week old roo who probably weighs less than a half a pound after being processed.

 

[Vermont Poultry]

And also, 2 roosters and only 4 hens may cause problems later down the line. Once the roosters are mature they will fight for the hens (which is normal). But since you have so few hens the hens may be worn down from constant mating, and there is not enough hens to go around even for just 1 rooster. If I were you I would most likely either let them work it out until they are old enough to butcher and only kill 1. Or I would get more hens. But follow your gut feeling. I recommend getting more opinions from multiple people.

 

[donrae]

Are all your birds only 8 weeks old? If so, I'm thinking it's more likely a space issue, not so much a gender issue. How much room do they have?

With those numbers of birds, you're going to have to make some management decisions. It's great to wish and hope everyone will get along, but that's not really going to be the case. Do you plan to keep two separate flocks for the next 5 years? Even one male and two females can be pretty hard on the ladies. I would seriously look at getting rid of this male. It's going to be a long term headache managing the two roosters.

 

[Abby32922]

Are all your birds only 8 weeks old? If so, I'm thinking it's more likely a space issue, not so much a gender issue. How much room do they have? 

With those numbers of birds, you're going to have to make some management decisions. It's great to wish and hope everyone will get along, but that's not really going to be the case. Do you plan to keep two separate flocks for the next 5 years? Even one male and two females can be pretty hard on the ladies. I would seriously look at getting rid of this male. It's going to be a long term headache managing the two roosters. 

I'm going to separate the roosters into 2 different pens as soon as the pen is free from bunny duty. And I really don't think that the chickens will be breeding 2 much, I got a breed that isn't 2 interested in constant breeding.

 

[donrae]

What breed is that? I'm not aware of any 5-10 month old cockerels that don't want to pretty much nail anything they can.

 

[Abby32922]

What breed is that? I'm not aware of any 5-10 month old cockerels that don't want to pretty much nail anything they can. 

I have Sebrights, my friend said that they don't breed or go broody 2 often so they would be good for showing.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Sorry but your friend likely doesn't know what she is talking about,most chickens mate all the time,escpecially young roosters,they may not brood,but that doesn't mean they won't breed....