Rooster being mean to my ladies

[KrystalRose]

I have a rooster that is not being very nice to my girls. They are all the same age and have been raised together and about half the girls are laying so far. This rooster in question is pecking rather hard at the back of their heads and/or shaking their heads when he does his business. I even have a girl right now that I think he threw her back out or something, she has had trouble walking for the past couple days, thankfully she seems to be getting better. I am thinking this boy is a little too much of a rapist for my liking! Is there any way to stop this nonsense or is he just destined for the freezer? He is sooo beautiful but I cannot have him hurting my girls like this.

I have two other roosters to compare to and one is a complete and total gentleman, the other isn't exceptionally mean or nice, just an average rooster I guess. I am thinking of keeping just the gentleman and trying again next spring to get another gentleman since I really need 2 roosters for the number of girls I have.

So I have 2 questions:

1) What should I do with my bully in question?
2) What breed of rooster have you had good luck turning into gentleman?

 

[chicknmania]

I think as they get older they settle down. Maybe put him in a pen by himself for awhile? We've had a couple cockerels that are mean to the hens. But we've also had some hens that put the cockerels in their place, lol. Other than separating him, I don't know. I don't think there's really a breed that's better, it just depends on the individual. Most of our roos our fairly gentle with the hens, but as I said, it seems the older ones are better.

 

[KrystalRose]

I think part of the problems is that he has always been a little too much all braun no brain. He has always been our "special" guy. I don't know that separating him would help, but I could try it. My roosters are at the top of the chain, I have no hens that top them or that pick back at them. The other bad thing is that when this bully is doing his business, the nice rooster comes over like he wants to help the poor hen! Like even he knows its a little out of hand. How long does it take for them to start maturing and settling down?

 

[seminolewind]

I don't know but I've had gentlemen roosters. But this year they are not very nice. My one sweet rooster chases all but one hen away from the food.

 

[chicknmania]

I think part of the problems is that he has always been a little too much all braun no brain. He has always been our "special" guy. I don't know that separating him would help, but I could try it. My roosters are at the top of the chain, I have no hens that top them or that pick back at them. The other bad thing is that when this bully is doing his business, the nice rooster comes over like he wants to help the poor hen! Like even he knows its a little out of hand. How long does it take for them to start maturing and settling down?

Our two oldest roos are both 4 years old and they are both great, very mellow, and have been for a while. I think they start slowing down at about 1.5 to 2 years old, looking down the line. But again, you go back to the individual, I suppose.

 

[DaveOmak]

I have 1 Rooster and 6 hens.... He wanted to mate each one at least twice a day... Badgered them soooooo much they quit laying....
I built a jail and he went in there for 3 weeks.... It was in the run with the girls so they could parade in front of him all day... When I let him out, the matron hen was now the boss of the flock... He is a sugar daddy now.... Below is what I built.... It will work for other stuff also so it's a good addition to the farm....

This process was suggested by my new friends at JustFowlingAround, where I purchased my birds...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/930788/hatching-box-quarantine-box-multi-purpose-cage

 

[KrystalRose]

Hmmm, well I do have an area I used for the chicks, it is roughly 2' by 5' by 2' tall. He would hate it, but he could go in there for a while maybe. I do like the idea of the box in the run so they can still see each other, so reintroduction is easier. My injured hen is slowly showing signs of recovery. She still isn't making it up onto the roosts at night but she is at least walking around better.

Here is a picture of my troublemaker. The pic is before he filled out with more adult feathering.

 

[chicknmania]

He has some Ameracauna in him, do you think? That's interesting, since our Ameracauna rooster has been pretty rough with the ladies too, except the one hen he has that is always with him.
She's his sister, so maybe that's why, lol. He's slowly mellowing out, he just turned a year old this past month or so.

 

[KrystalRose]

Yep, he is my mystery chick from the hatchery. He is an Easter Egger. Although he looks very different from my EE girls. They are all partridge colored.