Rooster problem or "puberty" problem?

[Mr. M]

Hello. I have a mixed flock of 13 chickens. They are all around 4-5 months old and grew up together from a few days old. One of my roosters (red ranger breed) has been crowing now for about a month or so. He's an awesome bird. Friendly to everyone so far, including my 4 year old son, and seems to keep the flock together and is definitely king of the coop. The problem I am having recently is he got ahold of one of our hens and ended up gouging the back of her neck pretty good. Not just a bit of feather pulling, he got her good. We've had them separated the last couple days and I've been cleaing and keeping an eye on her wound. I let them free range during the day so she can still interact with the rest of the flock. Pops (rooster) doesn't beat up or even bother any of the other chickens, including two other roosters, other than the occasional "I'm the boss" peck. As soon as he sees this hen outside though he's chasing her down. Luckily she's faster and she's pretty great at laying low in the tall grass or flower beds. She's definitely no dummy. I know roosters have their favorites but do you think this will continue to be a problem? Or will he calm down with a little more maturity? Do I keep separating them at night to be safe and if so how long do you suggest? Or is this a "off with his head!" situation altogether? Thank you for any input!

 

[jolly wattles]

Is he trying to mount her or just attacking her? Are all the hens laying yet? If so does he mount the other layers? When my roo came into maturity he had a favorite hen mostly cause the other laying hens would beat him up lol. And he wouldn't mount the non laying pullets. Now that he's a couple months into maturity the older hens let him mount now. And as the pullets come close to laying he will mount them.

 

[Top Rooster]

I had the same problem he was nice to everyone else but when I let my broody and her chicks out into the flock he did the same he was gone after that.

 

[Mr. M]

None of them are laying yet. The time I saw him catch her he came at her from the back and tried to climb on her back but she was resisting pretty good and there was alot of movement so it's hard to say if he was trying to mount her or if he was trying to attack. It's just so strange that they've spent the last 5 months growing up together in the same coop and run and now he decides to attack? That's why I'm thinking (and hoping) he's just an aggressive adolescent figuring out how to breed and his technique will come with time? He'd make a hell of a meal but I like him too much for that lol

 

[Mr. M]

I just recently started letting them out to free range. 3 or 4 days. Other than that they've spent every second within feet and inches of eachother

 

[jolly wattles]

If he tried to climb/step on her back then he's trying to mate. He will grab her by the head/neck to hold on. It looks brutal but normal. May take him awhile to perfect the mount. It's just teenage hormones gone crazy. As he ages most likely he will begin to calm some. I wouldn't worry right now. He probably senses she's about to lay.

 

[Chickassan]

Yeah it's puberty. Is the hen a lead hen of the group? The boss hens usually resist the most.He wants what he can't have so easily. Not too different from a human guy.

 

[jolly wattles]

Yeah it's puberty. Is the hen a lead hen of the group? The boss hens usually resist the most.He wants what he can't have so easily. Not too different from a human guy.

Haha

 

[Mr. M]

I'd say it's safe to assume that she's queen bee. These were my suspicions but this is my first real go-around with chickens so I wanted to make sure. I'll keep them separate at least until she heals up and see how it pans out. Thanks for the input guys!

 

[Ridgerunner]

In my mind it's almost certainly a puberty problem. At that age his hormones are running wild and out of control, the pullets are immature so they can't do their part, so it gets wild. At that age the mating act is a lot more about dominance than sex. The one on bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top either willingly or by force. At that age the pullets are not willing. As someone on here once said, watching chickens got through puberty is usually not for the faint of heart. There are often some differences if you have mature hen and a mature rooster in the flock but it can still get pretty wild.

My guess on why he is singling out that pullet is that he sees her as a rival as far as the dominance race or he sees her as really weak. They can be real bullies when they sense weakness. It's probably a good idea to keep them separated for a while to see if they both mature out of this phase.

I once had a cockerel develop an intense dislike for another specific cockerel. It would attack him out of the blue and soon killed him. I had 16 other cockerels the same age, none of them had any problems with each other more than normal. Sometimes chickens just don't like other individuals.

Another time I had a cockerel in a flock with older hens but no mature rooster. The dominant hen kept that cockerel under her control for months, letting him know she was the boss. When he finally matured enough to stand up to her, about 11 months of age, he went out of his way for two days to attack her, really being rough with her. But after two days of that treatment she finally accepted his dominance and they became best buddies. I've had cockerels that could stand up to a mature hen at 5 months but he was slow to mature.

I don't know if either of these situations fits your situation. That's why I suggest some separation. If she matures enough to submit to him the situation many change.