Rooster fighting with hen

[theweerabbit]

I have a 18 week old rooster and I went out there to see him basically standing on her and grabbing her by the comb! Is he trying to mate with her or is he fighting? She was having none of it...she was standing up tall, feathers sticking out and trying to fight him! What should I do?

 

[soydo]

If the hen is older or was previously dominant over him, he has finally felt it was his time to be a Rooster and be dominant over hens and breed them. How they go about it varies, some simply challenge hens and fight it out if the hens don't back down like yours.

What you need to watch out for a situation like yours is make sure the other isn't actually another male and with either male or female, watch how he deals with the loser after winning. If he continues to beat on after the loser has given up and is running around or trying to hide that is bad and you need to separate if they are confined to a cage or a small coop.

 

[keddy]

I agree with soydo maybe his trying to be the man of the coop now to breed your hens

 

[donrae]

That was mating behavior. He needs to get his game better, court her so she'll accept him.

 

[theweerabbit]

Thanks for all your replies. You were all right of course as when I put them back in together he done it again although this time with a little more skill lol! The poor hen is a bit traumatised though as she's been here for 3 years with no boys around so she's not very pleased that she's the chosen one. The other hens don't seem to have taken his fancy and he always makes a beeline for her......