Rooster Hen

[rebrascora]

Your pullet is going to be in for a very hard time in a week or two when his hormones kick in. She will not be mature enough to breed but his hormones will be raging and he will be mating her forcefully and repeatedly and any noise may more from her screams than his crowing. You need to make some decisions fast as things could get unpleasant quickly. Whilst it is possible to keep breeding pairs together on a 1:1 basis, a young immature pullet and a rampant young cockerel are not a good combination. You will start to see her lose feathers off her back neck and shoulders and her skin become raw. She may also suffer gashes under wings or be scalped. Young cockerels are best kept separate from pullets or at least be kept with enough pullets to share the burden 10:1 pullets to cockerels will usually ease the damage but some will still get overmated. Finding him a new home or keeping him in a separate cage or coop is the best option if you do not have space for more chickens. You also need to check if roosters are allowed in your area as many residential/urban areas specify female poultry only.

 

[meetthebubus]

I don't agree with cruel punishes with a rooster or any animal

I had 3 buff roos who were not nice once hormones kicked in, its a lineage thing

I have 1 buff Roo who is a gentleman always with me

Consider keeping a meaner roo separated in his own enclosure right next to the others, he Will guard them anyhow alert for predators, etc. I have China who does that for me a guard chicken she threw herself at 2 Rottweilers a few months ago, lost a spur but alerted my nice roo and his girls first

 

[giwa]

Your cockerel is being a normal rooster. He's defending his food source, defending his pullet. He should be more concerned about real predators, not humans... so he's not a good cockerel, but he's definitely a boy through and through.

I love him anyway.

 

[giwa]

I had a BO rooster, had is the key word! He was not a good rooster and I think, cant prove it but think he killed a hen. He was all bloody,,,
For my part yours is already displaying bad habits,,,
That being said, I am not there to see if he is acting aggressive or curious,, My girls have picked at my toes, it's curiosity, they also untie my shoes, those laces look tasty apparently,,,
IF you think he is being aggressive then off to the pot with him!

I will keep an eye on him. Otherwise he is good and nice to the hen. I will see what time brings and be cautious.
I have already formed a bond with this bird so I have no choice but to work with him.

 

[giwa]

Your cockerel is being a normal rooster. He's defending his food source, defending his pullet. He should be more concerned about real predators, not humans... so he's not a good cockerel, but he's definitely a boy through and through.

He has never come into contact with a real predator. This little family is all he knows. I have a Border Collie. That could be the only other thing he could see as a threat, but my dog completely ignores the chickens.

 

[giwa]

Your pullet is going to be in for a very hard time in a week or two when his hormones kick in. She will not be mature enough to breed but his hormones will be raging and he will be mating her forcefully and repeatedly and any noise may more from her screams than his crowing. You need to make some decisions fast as things could get unpleasant quickly. Whilst it is possible to keep breeding pairs together on a 1:1 basis, a young immature pullet and a rampant young cockerel are not a good combination. You will start to see her lose feathers off her back neck and shoulders and her skin become raw. She may also suffer gashes under wings or be scalped. Young cockerels are best kept separate from pullets or at least be kept with enough pullets to share the burden 10:1 pullets to cockerels will usually ease the damage but some will still get overmated. Finding him a new home or keeping him in a separate cage or coop is the best option if you do not have space for more chickens. You also need to check if roosters are allowed in your area as many residential/urban areas specify female poultry only.

Thank you for telling me this. And my Barred Rock pullet thanks you as well.
I will separate them to keep her safe when we are not around. I keep them in the house at night in a small coup. They are pets more so than food makers for me and my family. So an eye is constantly on the two of them at any given time for the most part. They hang with us when we watch tv or sit and cuddle (especially the pullet that is my daughters baby) And someone is always with them when they are outside too. Like dogs. WE love them and would hate to see any sort of harm come to them.
So again I greatly appreciate you telling me so that we would not have found this out the hard way.

 

[giwa]

I don't agree with cruel punishes with a rooster or any animal

I had 3 buff roos who were not nice once hormones kicked in, its a lineage thing

I have 1 buff Roo who is a gentleman always with me

Consider keeping a meaner roo separated in his own enclosure right next to the others, he Will guard them anyhow alert for predators, etc. I have China who does that for me a guard chicken she threw herself at 2 Rottweilers a few months ago, lost a spur but alerted my nice roo and his girls first

I agree with you 100% and would never do anything mean to my rooster or another animal. When he does bite me I pick him up and hold him firmly and tell him no or push him on the side to get his attention and snap him out of it. He reacts like a drama queen. Like I did something terrible to him. I just stay firm and give him the vibes that he's not the boss of me. So far that's all I got. I fear those spurs tho.... I hope he settles down some when his hormonal teen phase is over.

 

[giwa]

That’s just normal rooster behavior. He’s just protecting his hens, next time he bites you, grab him by the legs and dunk him in a bucket full of cold water. After that he won’t bother you again!

I have read that holding a chicken upside down can cause their lungs to collapse. And to add submerging them in water to that? Damn. No animal deserves that. I could never...

 

[KikiLeigh02]

There are some really great articles about roosters on here if you get to a point where you need help with his behavior!

 

[Living_Legend]

Some people in my life had tried to tell me that she is more rooster-like. These people are not chicken experts so I did not take it too seriously.
But all within about the past 4 days, I've been starting to wonder... she has become kinda mean. While inside of the cage/coup she will bite my hand when I grab the food bowl or something else from the cage. She will also bite my hand when sitting next to me if I make a fast movement with my hand, especially down low by her feet. She has bitten my feet when walking past her, twice, and sometimes when I walk past her I can tell she wants to run up and bite my feet but holds herself back. It is almost like the biting is something she doesn't want to do, but that it happens spontaneously like a herding dog sometimes has issues with. She does still let me pick her up and cuddle and she likes to sit in my lap. Then this morning she was trying to crow; A strange Er-er-er that sounded like it was passing through a kazoo. And, officially today, she is trying to mount the Barred Rock pullet. She is growing at a faster rate than the Barred Rock. There have been maybe a couple other things that I just can't remember at the moment. I still do not truly know if any of these things are definitive in proving she is a rooster. I have read that a dominant hen can take on rooster characteristics in the absence of a rooster among hens, though unable to father children but I'm not sure if that is something that should have happened later than now. And after starting this thread, I found out that it is not 100% guaranteed all chicks at the store are girls...
The very few pictures I can find online of production reds do not even look like her. I can't even figure out if I have a production red!
I will post some pictures of her. These pics were taken within the past 2 or 3 days. She is about to or is sunbathing in them... she looks different now with bigger comb, earlobes and waddles than she did just 9 days ago.

P.S. She does not have spurs. There are sharp little bumps where a spur might go but the other chicken has them too.

That's deffinitly a transgender.