Rooster in Training?

[Enchanted1s]

Hi BYC Friends!

So - we are just starting our second year with our poultry. It has been quite a ride so far. Without going into our long story about how we got to hear - I will just get to the question(s). In our newly forming flock, we have -
- Tootie - our first little chicken that flew into our yard and chose us. She is just over a year old now. Tiny little lady - 3 pounds
- LittleBit & Gracey Lynn - Crested Cream Legbar Hens. Arrived at 2 days old on 29 Nov 17. Just started laying in April. 5ish pounds
- Buffey - Buff Orpington Hen - arrived with the Cream Legbars. 5ish pounds.
- BlueBoy - Crested Cream Legbar Cockerel - 10 weeks old. - 32oz
- Blacky & Brownie - Black Sexlink Pullets - 10 weeks old - 36oz
- Whitey - Unknown Breed - Approximately 7 Weeks old. Replaced what was sold to us as a 55 Flowery Pullet that started crowing. She is a sweaty, but MUCH smaller than the 10 week olds. 17oz

So - that is our forming flock. My question today is about BlueBoy. We bought him when he was just a few days old. He was put in the brooder with the others his age and loved and raised in the run - where they could be seen and heard by the older girls - but not touched. How is he supposed to learn how to be a good rooster and take care of ALL the girls. He has no other rooster around to teach him. So far, he is a big wuss! He runs and hides at the first sign of trouble! He is finally starting to show some signs of wanting to protect little Whitey, but for the most part - he is a scaredy cat. I think he needs to go to Rooster School or something! LOL But seriously, is there anything that we should (or should not) do for him?

We have just begun integrating them. The littles are allowed out in the yard with the big girls for a bit in the morning and again in the evening - while supervised. It looks like the older hens are challenging him. All the feathers on his neck stand on end and he really tries to stand his ground, but 9 times out of 10 he will tuck tail and run. Are the big girls going to pick on him until he is fully grown? Are we doing the right thing trying to integrate them this young? He has always been on the small side - what if he ends up being the smallest in the flock? Will he still be their night in shining armor?

We had a rooster that was an excellent protector, but we sold him to make room for BlueBoy. I am now concerned that we probably should have kept him around until BlueBoy grew up?

Thanks for your input.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

He’ll do fine. I got an accidental cockerel in my first flock and he was the best. Always watching the girls, calling them over for treats, & warning them for danger.

 

[aart]

He's just a tiny baby yet...give him time,
don't expect him to 'take charge' until 4-5-6 months old,
and he'll probably get his butt kicked many more times before that.

 

[Allie Grace Sanders]

How was he when you started integrating him?

 

[Enchanted1s]

He's just a tiny baby yet...give him time,
don't expect him to 'take charge' until 4-5-6 months old,
and he'll probably get his butt kicked many more times before that.

That is the answer I expected.

 

[Enchanted1s]

How was he when you started integrating him?

We are just starting to integrate him now. He turned 10 weeks last Friday. He acts like he is afraid of his own shadow LOL. He will confront one of the other 10 week olds, but it looks like she wins! I believe he did stand up to Tootie (the smallest and oldest of our hens) today. The feathers on his neck stand up - really cute... anyway, Tootie schooled him a bit and he ran away - but at least he tried, for a second.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

It takes rooster times do become a good cut out.He is still young and even if there were another grown male around,he wouldn’t show him routes to being a man,he would give him the business and they never be friends,just flock partners while some males can coexist together,most keep their distance.

You don’t need to intervene,instinct an dhormones will kick in and one day things will just be out of whack,he will step up to the plate and step up to the hens and Carr for everyone.
From experience bantam roosters can’t always overcome adult hens,some are just purely too intimidated by certain size differences and attitudes.I have a two and half year old bantam Cochin male who just wont fight my NHR hens,their far too mean for his likings and he is extremely fearful of them,or the one hen left of them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Each chicken is an individual and each flock has its own dynamics based on the individuals that make up the flock and how they interact. No one can tell you what will happen in any situation, but we can tell you what we would expect to happen in most cases. No matter what someone says someone else can come up with an exception. But there is a general maturity process for chicks in a flock.

Mature chickens outrank immature chickens in the pecking order and are often not slow to enforce those pecking order privileges when their private space is violated. That means that if an immature chicken crowds up against a mature chicken they might get pecked or worse. Some older hens are more tolerant about that than others, but usually they peck. So immature chickens tend to form a separate sub-flock and avoid the adults as much as possible.

When the chicks mature enough to force their way into the pecking order they truly become part of the main flock. With pullets that is usually about the time they start to lay, usually within a few weeks. Cockerels are a whole other story.

Up until the hormones kick in a young cockerel is just another chick. But at some point he starts through puberty. When can vary a lot. Some can start that process even younger than 10 weeks, some don't start until 4 or 5 months. I think there can be some that never really even start. Twelve weeks is not that young a time to start but I'd say most of mine average around 15 weeks when it gets really noticeable.

Even as very young chicks cockerels and pullets start working on the pecking order, you can see chicks just a few days old square off. But once a cockerel's hormones kick in he really wants to dominate the flock. He starts picking fights, especially with siblings. He may attack another chicken out of the blue. At that age especially the mating act is a lot more about dominance than sex. The one on bottom accepts the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. It can get pretty wild down there with a cockerel trying to force the pullets to mate or even sometimes forcefully mating other cockerels. That doesn't mean your cockerel is "bent", it just means he is dominant at that moment. The pullets aren't mature enough to know what is going on as far as mating and usually are not ready to accept that cockerel's dominance. They run, he chases, and when he catches them he forces them. There is nothing unusual about that, it's how he establishes his dominance. A lot of people get upset watching that though.

Some mature hens will squat for practically anything in spurs but most mature hens want a male that will make a good father for their chicks. He needs to find them food, keep peace in his flock, watch for predators, and do the things a good father and flock leader does. He needs to impress hem with his self-confidence and magnificence. He also meed to be dominant. I've had the rare cockerel that can do this at four months, but that is really rare. More normal is around seven months. I've had some take a full year. A lot or that has to do with his personality but the personality of the hens plays a big part too. Until he reaches that level of maturity a mature hen may beat the crap out of him if he bothers her or she may run away with him chasing and forcing her. As someone on here said watching a cockerel go through adolescence is often not for the faint of heart. But once they get through adolescence the flock usually matures into a peaceful calm flock. Oh, those teenagers!

Maybe this will help you to understand what you are seeing down there. There are all kinds of variations on this, sometimes it is not bad at all. If you can make it through his adolescence you should have a nice flock. Good luck!

 

[aart]

Another great novella @Ridgerunner.
And I just noticed, your location has changed?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Another great novella @Ridgerunner.
And I just noticed, your location has changed?

Yeah, I've moved to suburbia to be closer to grandkids. I will not be having chickens anymore. My gardening is also greatly cut back, a big lifestyle change. But it's worth it to be 10 minutes away from the grandkids.

I'm torn on how to respond on here. It's a lot like @Blooie and her situation since she gave up chickens. Do I pretend I still have chickens and write the posts up that way? It gets pretty awkward if I have to explain that I used to have chickens in every post so I'll probably keep writing as if I still have them. It has not reduced my presence on this forum yet but it might eventually.