Rooster trouble

[Ridgerunner]

How old is he? How old are the girls? What you describe is fairly typical behavior of an immature chicken around mature chickens. Trying to figure out if that is what is going on.

That is a decent sized coop for that number of birds. It sounds like there are problems when they wake up, but it quickly stops. You say it is not the guineas. How tall is that coop? My immature ones typically wind up on the roosts in the morning when the mature ones are on the coop floor. The young are avoiding the adults. Are your roosts high enough that he is safe up on the roosts?

It's hard to guess what is going in or how to fix it, there could be several different causes. The more you can tell us the more likely something is going to ring a bell. Photos might help. There will still be a lot of guessing.

 

[akostka1988]

How old is he? How old are the girls? What you describe is fairly typical behavior of an immature chicken around mature chickens. Trying to figure out if that is what is going on.

That is a decent sized coop for that number of birds. It sounds like there are problems when they wake up, but it quickly stops. You say it is not the guineas. How tall is that coop? My immature ones typically wind up on the roosts in the morning when the mature ones are on the coop floor. The young are avoiding the adults. Are your roosts high enough that he is safe up on the roosts?

It's hard to guess what is going in or how to fix it, there could be several different causes. The more you can tell us the more likely something is going to ring a bell. Photos might help. There will still be a lot of guessing.

All of the birds are the same age if I remember correctly they are about 5 months old. The coop is 6’ tall in the front and 4’ tall where the nesting boxes are it’s a slanted roof cuz we tend to get a lot of snow here. The roost poles are on the 6’ side of the coop so there is plenty of head room. I had a large hen (Bertha) she’s almost his size and I’m guessing she’s the one who doesn’t like him. I’ve only seen him mount 2 of the smaller hens if that counts for anything.

 

[akostka1988]

For reference if it helps: this is Bertha (black) and Pony Boy (golden) the pic of Bertha is from September 9th and her comb has fully developed and turned red but it’s not as large as Pony Boy’s comb it looks more like the other hens.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

Were they always raised together? He looks younger than 5 months to me.

 

[One Lucky Momma]

Is there a space in your coop for another section of roost, at about the same height? Doesn’t need to be as spacious as what you’ve already provided, just a slightly different space to provide an option for either the rooster or alpha hen (who sounds like she may be the culprit, just guessing).

And are you able to physically place him in the coop at night? If he gets into places that make it hard for you to reach him, maybe try to encourage/coerce/force him into the coop before the girls start going in.

At this age a lot of things are being sorted out. I have a feeling is a matter of time and everything will work out. Good luck!

BTW, he’s a handsome guy!

 

[akostka1988]

Were they always raised together? He looks younger than 5 months to me.

Yes I bought them all on the same day....I got them some time in May and they came from the same container...I got them from tractor supply and they had some of their wing feathers in idk what you call that...basically they were already starting to loose that chick fluff on their wings I think they were all labeled pullets

 

[Ruby Rogue]

Maybe you could just monitor them, as long as no one is being injured they may just work it out on their own. But creating separate areas for them in the chicken coop where they can still see each other but not attack each other may help as well. Good luck with them.

 

[akostka1988]

Is there a space in your coop for another section of roost, at about the same height? Doesn’t need to be as spacious as what you’ve already provided, just a slightly different space to provided an option for either the rooster or alpha hen (who sounds like she may be the culprit, just guessing).

And are you able to physically place him in the coop at night? If he gets into places that make it hard for you to reach him, maybe try to encourage/coerce/force him into the coop before the girls start going in.

At this age a lot of things are being sorted out. I have a feeling is a matter of time and everything will work out. Good luck!

BTW, he’s a hands guy!

Ok ya I can probably rearrange the roosts I’ve got 2 already they are level though maybe if I adjust one higher than the other thank you I think he’s a handsome boy but also a big chicken no pun intended lol now that his adult feathers are growing in he’s getting a flowy look to him awkward teenage Pony Boy attached lol

 

[akostka1988]

The evolution of Pony Boy

 

[One Lucky Momma]

Ok ya I can probably rearrange the roosts I’ve got 2 already they are level though maybe if I adjust one higher than the other

sorry, I didn’t catch that you already had two at about the same height. I’d leave them that way. For some reason I was thinking you had one really long one. No need to introduce more potential for conflict.
But maybe there’s a chance of getting him in first to get settled?

They're going to love him, all in good time.