Rooster too aggressive with hen(s), what to do?

[llombardo]

You need to choose one rooster at the most. For 4 hens one rooster is too much , I have 14 hens and 5 are feather less, rooster is going to be gone tomorrow

How old are yours?

 

[thelongacre]

Saddles don’t protect under their wings , mine got cut right open under her wing on both sides, that was the last straw. Why do you want a rooster ? Are you hatching eggs ?

I don't really want any roosters - we got them straight run. I thought one rooster would be good as a protector, but I am perfectly fine not having any.

 

[thelongacre]

Hi you could use a chicken saddle which goes around the chickens when a rooster mounts. This will protect their back and feathers. You can get these at Cal-Ranch I think or you could make one out of something and watch a you tube tutorial. My friend made a chicken saddle out of duck tape once. I'd say get rid of the most aggressive rooster , this will take away the competition and get chicken saddles.

I have seen these, and that's not a bad idea. I don't think they protect the comb, though? And this guy is literally causing her comb to bleed from how aggressive he is.

 

[thelongacre]

Yes about a million times

Okay what you have assuming all the birds are the same ages are not hens and roosters you have pullets and cockerals.


Your pullets probably aren't laying yet so don't want to be bred(males mature faster). You're absolutely correct that 2 cockerals is too much for 7 hens let alone 7 immature pullets that can't keep them in line.

Cockerals are flooded with testosterone at sexual maturity but they don't know the finer points of being a good rooster. I'll list some of those below
Feeding the ladies
Dancing for the ladies
Not forcing them to mate
Protecting them
Balance while mating

All of these things are yes genetic to an extent, with gentle roosters generally having offspring that grow up to be better roosters whether they grow up with or without a mature flock that teaches them. More than that they're learned and practiced.

Right now your cockerals have had no guidance they're feeling in the dark and your pullets are suffering for that.

Yes it's possible that they may not ever stop and may just be overly aggressive boys.

What I think is probably happening though is that both cockerals are frustrated as they're trying to figure it out. They dominate the girls and become rough with them because they don't cooperate. They don't cooperate because the boys aren't practiced so it hurts and they're rough because they haven't completely figured it out yet. They are also trying to become dominant in the flock to gain the respect of the girls. They don't know you catch more flies with honey.

Saddles can give some protection but really they need to be separated for a while but still visible or they need to have ample space so the girls can run and get out of the line of sight. Cockerals can be ruthless especially when there's more than one as you're seeing. They will often take turns forcibly breeding a girl with the other cockeral pecks or kicks her often in the face.

You do need to look at it and decide why you want a rooster? What are your plans for the spare?

If you plan to hatch eggs or pet your girls hatch eggs what will you do with all the chicks, remember approximately half of all chicks that hatch will be male? You don't want that many cockerals running around for sure.

How large is your coop?

Thank you, this is a lot of good insight. I hadn't thought about them needing to learn how to figure it all out.

I do not necessarily want a rooster, and do not intend to hatch chicks anytime soon. If we culled them both, we would eat both of them.

Our fenced in coop area is very large - about 1,500 sqft. The coop itself is about 30 sqft.

 

[snow5164]

My advice from experience with half dead hens , get rid of the roosters , they are more work then all the hens together and if you like me just want eggs? Get rid of them, my hens are more content , their feathers are growing back and the come to me again ..... it’s so much nicer in my coop now .

My boy is very nice just too rough!!I will miss him a lot

You have learned a lot today get out the soup pot

 

[thelongacre]

To be honest they sound like aggressive roosters. At 4 months old they may be hitting puberty and are having an overflow of hormones. It can take weeks or months to get through it.
You do what works for you, you can separate one rooster for a week and see how he acts, then switch out, and see who treats the hens better, if either. Otherwise you may find it better to have an all lady zone!
Both roosters can live together if they're separated from hens. I've got several rooster flocks.

Thank you. I'm definitely going to separate them right away, and then make the decision about who to choose - or if I should just get rid of them both. Or, we do have space - maybe they can start their own rooster flock!

 

[HuskerHens18]

Thank you. I'm definitely going to separate them right away, and then make the decision about who to choose - or if I should just get rid of them both. Or, we do have space - maybe they can start their own rooster flock!

Personally, I ADORE my rooster flocks. They all get along great. I can handfeed them just as you can hens. As far as aggression goes, I only have two Houdans who take pride in biting the hand that feeds them. I just shoo them away at feeding time.
Crowing isn't as much as you'd think either, I was shocked at how quiet they were compared to my flock with only 1 rooster.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As others mentioned you do not have roosters and hens, you have cockerels and pullets. How they act when immature like that has very little bearing on how they will act as adults. However, as someone on here said watching them go through puberty is not for the faint of heart. It can get very rough.

The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Anything else is personal preference. I always recommend you keep as few males as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems with more males, just that the more you have the more likely you will have problems. From what I read it sounds like the perfect number for you may be zero.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Don’t get out the soup pot,giving the rooster away,solves your issue,but then it is given to someone else.

 

[snow5164]

Don’t get out the soup pot,giving the rooster away,solves your issue,but then it is given to someone else.

Right , even on this site there are so many free rooster ads, they said they would eat them . Some people need to put on their big people pants and deal with their own issues , don’t think I won’t shed a tear for my sweet boy ,he’s getting killed for being a rooster !! It’s almost too much , but I bought him , raised him and I’m going to finish his days,

Life is hard , suck it up we are supposed to be the ones with the bigger brains . I’m sorry if I offended anyone, life is hard