Rooster problems....overly mating, rough on certain hens.

[ZombieMadHatter]

I have found that locking up young roosters can often turn what appears to be a poor rooster into one that is a good rooster. In their first spring they get hormonal and can become only interested in the act of mating and not in taking care of the hens. And can be destructive and as you have seen just too much on them.

I have a pen where they go and they will stay in there for a few months. I usually leave them in there during spring and summer, and towards fall I will start to try letting them out to see how they behave, in the fall and winter hormones wane so often the roosters are more mellow by then. I have successfully kept many roosters this way and I like to give them all a chance to mature and settle down before deciding their fate. It can also help me determine which rooster is best for the flock.

So glad I found this thread, I have 4 roosters and ugggh it's like being in a frat house lol they are messier than my hens and just downright rude and horny. I keep them separated from my girls and was thinking about letting them free range with the girls when I'm outside with them but after readingsome of the comments I think I may wait until they are older. They just turned 4 months old and they are pretty much just walking feathery hormones.
Although it is funny watching them try to strut and prawn for the girls, however they don't seem to be quite as interested in the boys right now, which is ok with me In not ready to be a chicken grandma.
What age is better to let them out with the hens?

 

[ZombieMadHatter]

I have found that locking up young roosters can often turn what appears to be a poor rooster into one that is a good rooster. In their first spring they get hormonal and can become only interested in the act of mating and not in taking care of the hens. And can be destructive and as you have seen just too much on them.

I have a pen where they go and they will stay in there for a few months. I usually leave them in there during spring and summer, and towards fall I will start to try letting them out to see how they behave, in the fall and winter hormones wane so often the roosters are more mellow by then. I have successfully kept many roosters this way and I like to give them all a chance to mature and settle down before deciding their fate. It can also help me determine which rooster is best for the flock.

So glad I found this thread, I have 4 roosters and ugggh it's like being in a frat house lol they are messier than my hens and just downright rude and horny. I keep them separated from my girls and was thinking about letting them free range with the girls when I'm outside with them but after readingsome of the comments I think I may wait until they are older. They just turned 4 months old and they are pretty much just walking feathery hormones.
Although it is funny watching them try to strut and prawn for the girls, however they don't seem to be quite as interested in the boys right now, which is ok with me In not ready to be a chicken grandma.
What age is better to let them out with the hens?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

So glad I found this thread, I have 4 roosters and ugggh it's like being in a frat house lol they are messier than my hens and just downright rude and horny. I keep them separated from my girls and was thinking about letting them free range with the girls when I'm outside with them but after readingsome of the comments I think I may wait until they are older. They just turned 4 months old and they are pretty much just walking feathery hormones.
Although it is funny watching them try to strut and prawn for the girls, however they don't seem to be quite as interested in the boys right now, which is ok with me In not ready to be a chicken grandma.
What age is better to let them out with the hens?

It all depends on the rooster. One of mine from last spring, 9 months is okay with the hens, but another from the same batch I'm still managing. We butchered one already because he was too much. Some can take some time, almost to two years before I start letting them out full time and others never need to be penned.

Do you plan to keep them all? I would remove the worse and try keeping out the best, but once you separate them they may fight when put back together, so your future plans will dictate your current plans for them.

If you plan to keep them all, than separate them all out and see how it goes, sometimes they still will start fighting. They will get worse before they get better. With the approach of spring hormones will rage, and roosters will mate even more, and fighting will happen more.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I have found that locking up young roosters can often turn what appears to be a poor rooster into one that is a good rooster. In their first spring they get hormonal and can become only interested in the act of mating and not in taking care of the hens. And can be destructive and as you have seen just too much on them.

I have a pen where they go and they will stay in there for a few months. I usually leave them in there during spring and summer, and towards fall I will start to try letting them out to see how they behave, in the fall and winter hormones wane so often the roosters are more mellow by then. I have successfully kept many roosters this way and I like to give them all a chance to mature and settle down before deciding their fate. It can also help me determine which rooster is best for the flock.

As surely as hens and pullets are affected in a sexual way by the hours of sunlight or the time of the year, roosters are also affected in the same way by the length of the day. Once the day length stops increasing you will see its effect on both sexus. In your hens they begin laying or ovulating less. In the rooster the day length mostly influences his level of aggression. In roosters they start chilling out (at least somewhat) by late June or early July just like hens and pullets begin laying less.

 

[ZombieMadHatter]

It all depends on the rooster. One of mine from last spring, 9 months is okay with the hens, but another from the same batch I'm still managing. We butchered one already because he was too much. Some can take some time, almost to two years before I start letting them out full time and others never need to be penned.

Do you plan to keep them all? I would remove the worse and try keeping out the best, but once you separate them they may fight when put back together, so your future plans will dictate your current plans for them.

If you plan to keep them all, than separate them all out and see how it goes, sometimes they still will start fighting. They will get worse before they get better. With the approach of spring hormones will rage, and roosters will mate even more, and fighting will happen more.

I am planning on keeping them for as long as possible although Chaos may find himself in a stew pot if he doesn't cut his crap out. I had a rooster before and he was great but he was also older. Now I have the equivalent of 4 teenage boys going through puberty he bit my leg yesterday when I walked past him to clean out their pen. I turned around and gave him the death glare and the other three just backed away lol
After hearing your advice.....looks like I may not let them roam with the girls
maybe in time but seeing how their attitude is now they are just going to be pen mates

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I am planning on keeping them for as long as possible although Chaos may find himself in a stew pot if he doesn't cut his crap out. I had a rooster before and he was great but he was also older. Now I have the equivalent of 4 teenage boys going through puberty he bit my leg yesterday when I walked past him to clean out their pen. I turned around and gave him the death glare and the other three just backed away lol
After hearing your advice.....looks like I may not let them roam with the girls
maybe in time but seeing how their attitude is now they are just going to be pen mates

Unfortunately a rooster bold enough to bite will probably start to flog you next, so I'd advise you to never give a young rooster your back, especially if there's a question about his demeanor.

A submissive rooster will give you his back or side, and will often flap his wings as a sign of submission. A rooster that faces you is looking for a fight. Roosters should also maintain a distance of 5-10 feet away from you. Now would be a good time to start walking through them to make them move.

 

[ZombieMadHatter]

Unfortunately a rooster bold enough to bite will probably start to flog you next, so I'd advise you to never give a young rooster your back, especially if there's a question about his demeanor.

A submissive rooster will give you his back or side, and will often flap his wings as a sign of submission. A rooster that faces you is looking for a fight. Roosters should also maintain a distance of 5-10 feet away from you. Now would be a good time to start walking through them to make them move.

Yeah the other three try to test the waters but then they turn around and walk away and shake their feathers.
CHAOS pecked my foot (not hard I think he was getting the straw I had on my foot) but I turned around and mimicked a dominant rooster behavior, he took a small step toward me, I walked toward him he turned around and fluffed up clucked and flapped his wings

 

[Peeps61]

I've had two hens that the roosters did not like and were really rough on - almost like they were trying to kill the hens and both were BSL hens. So, when I read in your post that the SL hen you have was just lying on the ground, it brought this to mind. She was probably terrorized and just laid down and played dead to stop the assault. That rooster is dead and gone, but I have two others - one is a son of the original rooster, the other is the grandson of the original rooster and son of the senior rooster. Both are really good with the hens, although the younger still hasn't gotten the respect of the oldest hens in the flock. The pullets and younger hens love him, though. They both have their favorites and the senior roo only chases the junior roo if he seems too close to "his" hens. Neither is human aggressive, even around small children, though I always warn parents to mind the roosters and watch their children if they are looking at the chickens. It stays busy enough at our place with people coming and going (we have four daughters and their attendant friends) that new faces are nothing new to the roosters. Now, my cats are another thing! If a car comes up the driveway that they don't recognize, off they go!

 

[Barbc77]

I have 2 roosters and just about every time one rooster, (the older one) mounts a hen, the second rooster tries to mount the first rooster. Is he confused? About how this is supposed to work? Is this a dominance thing?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have 2 roosters and just about every time one rooster, (the older one) mounts a hen, the second rooster tries to mount the first rooster. Is he confused? About how this is supposed to work? Is this a dominance thing?

It is kinda a dominance thing, the younger is trying to take advantage while the older rooster is busy. Plus I would guess the younger hopes he will get lucky in the process and actually mate the hen. Your younger rooster is either dumb or ingenious, he's definitely brave.