My 1 year old easter egger named Lent was trying to rape my 2 month old chicks...pecking their head bloody and i had to put an end to it. Such a handsome asshole smh. He was at the bottom of the pecking order with the other roosters and i guess his urges drove him crazy. Made for an excellent chicken salad though.
All lower boys WILL take advantage of the "weaker" more docile females. You could have put an end to by a separation plan until an age you were comfortable to see them mating.
I saw 2 of my 8 week old boys copulate on their same age female flock mate. That didn't make it rape. Roosters don't have penises so at best it's assault. I moved them over to stag pen where they can assault each other instead. BTW, he would'a went after the other older hens if he had any chance with them... but they will defend themselves until he proves he is top dog above them. They will not submit the way a subordinate aged bird often will.
That being said... I TOTALLY get it!!!
My first year I had an outbreak of cockerels I wasn't yet prepared for the whole lot of them went after my most docile hen and took turns holding her down and just knocking each other off to get their turn, no actual fighting... just a gang bang. Every time they saw her they would come running from clear across the pasture.
NEVER, EVER have that problem again with a separation plan in place for ANY boys not meant to be actively breeding.
Also note... though they may not be gay... some of my boys mount and copulate each other as a sign of dominance, I believe.
And although we give the boys a ROOSTER badge at 1 year old... there seems to still be a LOT of maturing that takes place between then and 2. I am curious to see what age my mature and VERY good rooster will start trying to mate this years group of juveniles. See for me anytime prior too egg laying even of that is 20 weeks is too young. BUT the hormones are there and the animals sense things FAR before we do most of the time.
Anyways, we eat our extra boys too... especially those who give us reason with their behavior. But understanding that the animals' world and the human world don't operate on the same moral plain can help. There is nothing that stops cockerels from mating their dames (moms). But if that happened in humans... SOMEONE would be strung up!
Anyways, glad you have dealt with it. Chicken salad sounds delicious!
