Rooster is biting hens wings

[sammirae09]

My rooster is a little over 4 months old and is starting to bite my hens esp on the top of their wings. They’re all the same age.

is this normal for his age or is he just being a butthead and being mean?

Not sure if I should separate him for awhile or what. I love him and have had him since he was a baby and had planned on using him for making baby chicks. I’d hate to have to get rid of him if I don’t have to

 

[CalBickieMomma]

Just pecking them once or twice at a time, or does it seem like he’s bullying? This is pretty normal, if he just pecks at them in passing (my Eddie started doing this when he was much younger than yours). I think it’s just a roo thing, and will be coming out more especially at that age: 4-6 months. It’s the roo’s job not only to protect the girls but to also keep the peace amongst them. He might just be starting to establish that he will be the head chicken. IF he runs them down and starts using his feet/spurs and seems relentless, I’d be a little more concerned.

 

[sammirae09]

Just pecking them once or twice at a time, or does it seem like he’s bullying? This is pretty normal, if he just pecks at them in passing (my Eddie started doing this when he was much younger than yours). I think it’s just a roo thing, and will be coming out more especially at that age: 4-6 months. It’s the roo’s job not only to protect the girls but to also keep the peace amongst them. He might just be starting to establish that he will be the head chicken. IF he runs them down and starts using his feet/spurs and seems relentless, I’d be a little more concerned.

He like biting and holding on to their wing. He used to just peck.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

He’s probably just still just trying to establish dominance. If it becomes more persist and the girls start losing feathers and are terrified of him, you might want to separate him. Roos are going to be a little rough at first - and sometimes may even seem brutal - but as long as the girls aren’t getting injured, it should be okay. My bantam boy seems to abuse his hens (they try to get away from him whenever he wants to mate and they scream like they’re dying), but they aren’t even missing back feathers from his advances. Having said that, I’ve had two hens suffer severe lacerations from two separate roos (both roos were large, a RIR and a Buff Orpington) so I had to separate them.

 

[sammirae09]

He’s probably just still just trying to establish dominance. If it becomes more persist and the girls start losing feathers and are terrified of him, you might want to separate him. Roos are going to be a little rough at first - and sometimes may even seem brutal - but as long as the girls aren’t getting injured, it should be okay. My bantam boy seems to abuse his hens (they try to get away from him whenever he wants to mate and they scream like they’re dying), but they aren’t even missing back feathers from his advances. Having said that, I’ve had two hens suffer severe lacerations from two separate roos (both roos were large, a RIR and a Buff Orpington) so I had to separate them.

Yea he’s a RIR and I have other RIRs and black sex links and such and they’re all about the same size since they’ve grown up together. I have older hens I recently got so I’m working on getting everyone introduced at a distance but he’s been doing it to the girls his age that are currently in the coop

 

[CalBickieMomma]

I think it’s probably okay for now - since he’s still kinda young and smallish. Just keep an eye on things. I’ve also heard it’s best to have ten hens for every rooster so the hens don’t get over mated.

 

[sammirae09]

I think it’s probably okay for now - since he’s still kinda young and smallish. Just keep an eye on things. I’ve also heard it’s best to have ten hens for every rooster so the hens don’t get over mated.

I have 5 his age and just recently picked up 6 year old hens so he’s got plenty now lol

 

[sammirae09]

He’s starting to use his feet and stuff too so we’re going to build him like a bachelor pad off of the main coop so he can’t hurt anyone and i won’t have to get rid of him.

lol he bit me today for the first time while I was trying to round up the girls. Introducing the new hens to all the other females will go much smoother with him not attacking everyone

 

[Critter88]

He’s starting to use his feet and stuff too so we’re going to build him like a bachelor pad off of the main coop so he can’t hurt anyone and i won’t have to get rid of him.

lol he bit me today for the first time while I was trying to round up the girls. Introducing the new hens to all the other females will go much smoother with him not attacking everyone

So I’ma new chicken mom. I have one cockerel and 7 pullets. The rooster is a Buff Orp and he just started growling at me when I let them out in the morning and picked the living crap outta my arm, he then cocked his body in a weird way and puffs out at me. He has also started biting, not pecking, the female Orp. She screams bloody murder, I go yell at him and he’ll stop but will catch him several times a day doing this to her. They are all 16 weeks and have not had a problem till recently. I read your article and thought you might be able to tell me if this is something the rooster does before mating or what is happening? I’m learning as I go

 

[Mrs. K]

To both of you, you are getting some very aggressive signs. These cockerels are not respecting your space. Were they pets when younger? This often happens with new people to chickens. They are not like puppies, whereas if you are nice to them, they are nice to you. They tend to loose fear and respect of your space.

The thing is being raised together has no influence on chickens being life long friends. How roosters were acting last week, or even yesterday is no indicator how they will act now. This forum is filled of posts where the darling became the nightmare.

Most inexperienced people vastly underestimate how violent a rooster attack can be. IF you have children under the age of 6, a child can take the attack in the face. And they tend to attack children first. If either of you have children you need to dispatch or re home the rooster ASAP. Any attack can cause serious injury.

I do not think they will be come nice rooster, I think they will get more and more violent. That is what that behavior is indicating. Roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people.

Mrs K