Rooster is too sweet

[LLCoyote]

My rooster is, pardon the pun, a big chicken. He's nearly five months old and struts around likes he's hot stuff... But he runs from his own hens. I bought him after my big girls but the two flocks are, for all intents and purposes, integrated. My big girls (which he is now larger than at around 5 mo old) aren't mean to them and rarely do anything worse than give them dirty looks. But not does he run when he gets the stink eye.

From everything I've seen, there's never been a fight and he's never gotten hurt. I kept him to protect and breed my flock, and if he can't do that he isn't worth the feed. Will he grow out of this behavior?

He's a chocolate orpington roo.

 

[sourland]

He's just a kid not even quite a teen ager yet (in my experience Orpingtons are slower to mature). When the testosterone starts flowing, he will come to life.

 

[Blooie]

x2 Wait for it....wait for it......

 

[Zackman23434]

This is my first time with chickens and have raised them now close 20 1/2 weeks. I have three cockerels and trust me when I say what you are seeing is just a piece of the personality. What I originally thought was maturing male behavior was not so bad but still may have made a timid person uneasy. Then it could even seem to improve or you get used to it but I promise it gets to be a whole different beast and you will know trust me. My RIR is a morning beast and then tends to be completely mellow in the middle of the day until he ramps it up again an hour before sunset or so. It's not as bad as the morning though. He comes out that coop puffed up and showing every pullet who's boss. He scratches the ground with a vigor that looks like a bull would do, dances everyone any chicken in site, and just causes general havoc and annoyance. And if you are another cockerel you better just hop on a roost and wait it out. Then, like a bi-polar disorder he is completely calm and just does his normal chicken thing.

This is just one experience and one cockerel. I have two others that have their own thing but each has their own set of split personalities and they ramp up as they grow. They are all maturing at different times despite being the same age so you really get to see the difference one at a time. Even the lowest on the pecking order and last to really get his nuts has completely changed personalities. I thought he was gonna be a bad flock rooster because of how much he seems to hate the hens and bite them for no reason not even to attempt a mate.. but just recently I noticed if one of the other more dominant ones are chasing a hen my lowest male will flog the others without hesitation and let her run by without touching her. . Which is completely opposite of his personality as he now seems to be coming protective of them and even challenging those above him while doing it. They seem to change every day at this point in their development. It is really fascinating and a great way to learn. One thing to beware of though and I learned this quick, they will change in an instant at this stage when it comes to how they view you and do things that you would never expect and what you thought was out of character as they learn what a human is. And it always seem to be at a time when they seem the most normal and laid back. They are always watching me and I can tell they are trying to learn exactly what I am and how they should feel about me. They will test you in ways where you didn't even know you were tested and build on it. Luckily mine seem to have learned that they do not mess with me and it only took one experience for each one of them to figure that out quickly. However, that doesn't mean I can relax as I will always be watchful of the boys!

 

[Heron's Nest Farm]

He will probably make a very attentive flock master when he finds himself. I just love my roosters. I can almost TELL who is a rooster by the way I really bond with them as chicks!

Enjoy him for all his sweetness!