Rooster is abusing my pullet, I need a little guidance

[babsterh]

I'll start out by saying that I never wanted to do the rooster thing. Well, one of my RIR is a rooster. He's 18 weeks old, he crows like crazy which we don't mind...what the issue is, is that he is trying to "couple" with all of our hens (13). The older girls (3) are 1.5 years old and big enough to correct his behavior. I have 5 newer hens that are 14 weeks old, he is constantly going after them and specifically hones in on the runt. The poor little runt was understandably shell shocked today after his latest attack. They all free range on 2.5 acres.

I've never had a rooster and need some guidance as to how I should handle his behavior. I've tried re-homing him with no luck so far. My husband said he would cull him if necessary but this seems a little drastic.

Any help and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[troy4]

He probably needs a grown hen.He's probabaly trying to mate.The hens may attack back with really mean attitudes.

 

[babsterh]

Troy,
He has 3 hens that are a year and a half old, they don't want anything to do with him...he keeps trying but when he tries one of the older hens the other 2 come running to help.... then he goes after the runt.

 

[Chickie Baby]

Troy,
He has 3 hens that are a year and a half old, they don't want anything to do with him...he keeps trying but when he tries one of the older hens the other 2 come running to help.... then he goes after the runt.

I'm having this exact problem. I hope you get some help (me too)! Mine actually injured my small pullet this afternoon, she's limping terribly.

 

[babsterh]

I'm having this exact problem. I hope you get some help (me too)! Mine actually injured my small pullet this afternoon, she's limping terribly.

I'm so sorry about your pullet Chickie, I hope that she's ok. My sweet little pullet was roughed up fairly bad, fortunately I was right there when it happened and was able to stop it. I really want to get rid of this rooster but no luck so far.

 

[memphis]

At 18 weeks his hormones are raging. Any chance you could pen him with a few of the older girls? I'd probably try to separate him from the younger girls for awhile.

 

[troy4]

I would seperate them.The older hens will beat him up though if they try mating.It would be ok though if he fights back.

 

[enola]

I would seperate them.The older hens will beat him up though if they try mating.It would be ok though if he fights  back.

The older hens will teach him manners.

 

[Stiggy]

Older hens are great for teaching manners, they wont put up with it. Also it works great if they are bigger then him/ work together . I agree, you need to separate him from your young girls before he does serious damage to them

 

[Peeps61]

You have the perfect set up to teach him some manners. Put him in with the older hens. They won't put up with his nonsense until he wins them over. In the meantime, they'll whup up on him until he gets it. By that, I mean he has to earn the right to mate with them. He will learn to give them tidbits to eat, and to dance for them (which is his form of asking permission) rather than just trying to hop on and do his thing. The hen has to cooperate somewhat for this to happen and the pullets are too young to figure out how to position themselves. Once they start doing the egg squat, he should be OK with them. I had to learn from trial and error when one of my younger birds turned out to be a roo. He ended up being a pretty good one that eventually mated all of the hens in the flock (I had 8) and was a good watchdog for his harem until a predator got him. The older hens would carry on and squawk at first, but then they accepted him and all was well...mostly!