Rooster Hurting Hens?

[RoostyRoo]

Hi there,

I have a young rooster who just started crowing about a week or two ago. He has always been very timid and well behaved, but overnight he completely changed. He has started trying to breed the hens, which I understand involves the rooster pulling at their feathers when mounting, but he is way too aggressive. He doesn’t “flirt” to see if they are interested like I’ve seen other roosters do and he almost violently chases them and forces them to submit while they are screaming and trying to run away.

I’ve seen him do this to multiple hens and they seem a little beat up and understandably stressed.

Any advice? I don’t have much experience with roosters, but I have never seen one act like this before and I’m worried he is hurting the hens.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Crazy Chicken Keeper]

I've had ones like this before the hens get used to it, seperate him if he becomes too aggressive with them

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Hi there,

I have a young rooster who just started crowing about a week or two ago. He has always been very timid and well behaved, but overnight he completely changed. He has started trying to breed the hens, which I understand involves the rooster pulling at their feathers when mounting, but he is way too aggressive. He doesn’t “flirt” to see if they are interested like I’ve seen other roosters do and he almost violently chases them and forces them to submit while they are screaming and trying to run away.

I’ve seen him do this to multiple hens and they seem a little beat up and understandably stressed.

Any advice? I don’t have much experience with roosters, but I have never seen one act like this before and I’m worried he is hurting the hens.

Thanks in advance!

How old is he? (And if he is less than a year old, he’s a cockerel, not a rooster.) And how old are the girls? (And if they’re less than a year, they’re pullets, not hens.)

The ages are important to know, because most young cockerels have no clue how to woo the ladies and instead just go for it.

If you have older hens, a year or more older than him, you can keep him with them and they’ll generally beat the crap out of him until he develops some sense.

If he’s the same age as the girls, they’re not yet sexually mature, and he needs to be housed separately until they’re all older and ready for mating. (He’s not ready, in the sense that he isn’t courting them first to get them interested and backing off if they’re not.)

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Our -now- year old rooster was separated for months--within run so he could mingle. And even at 14months old, he's still learning his manners. Just yesterday I witnessed him try to mount two hens(1-3yos we have), he didnt flirt as say and they caused a ruckus and let him know in not uncertain terms they didn't appreciate it.

I'm glad we kept him and worked with him, he's a good rooster now. But those teenage hormones were a beast. He was pinned separately for 2 months at a time, released to see how he did, and if he didn't show manners, went back into time out.

Granted, he is a brahma, so I'm sure even though he's over a year, he's still learning.

Hope this helps some, but as stated above, ages and behavior matter too and sometimes they will outgrow it, some don't.

Good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

How old is he? How old are the girls?

He has started trying to breed the hens, which I understand involves the rooster pulling at their feathers when mounting,

Part of the mating sequence is that the male grabs the back of the female's head, usually feathers but sometimes the comb if he is clumsy. The head grab is instinctive, it is a signal for her to raise her tail up out of the way so he can hit the target. It is not her decision of whether to raise the tail or not, the tail is coming up once her head is grabbed. Without that instinctive reaction you would see not fertile eggs.

It is not that unusual for an immature cockerel to chase immature pullets and force them to mate. That can involve grabbing body feathers to control her so he can force her. If this is going on and he is not an immature cockerel then I think you have a problem.

I see this a lot with my immature cockerels and immature pullets. As long as no one is injured I don't worry about it. From what I've see actual injuries in my flock are rare from this behavior. But some people do see injuries. So again, how old are they?