Roosters being mean to the hens

[opbado]

this is my first time raising chickens I have five buyff Orp hens five white leg horn hens & three white leg horn Roosters . they are all 14 weeks old & they free range in my
back yard all day and then I close them in there run and of course they go in there hen house. all of a sudden two of the roosters started biting some of the hens behind the head real hard . I am planing on culling two of the rooster . my qustion is . is this how they catch them to mate with them they really bit them realy hard is this normal
I thought they would n't start that untill they were about six months old . any anwers would be appreciated.

 

[emys]

Yes, that is how a rooster holds a hen for mating. Your roosters are establishing dominance among themselves and with the hens at this age.

Roosters mature faster than hens, so even if you had just one rooster, he would still be bugging the hens in this fashion by now - and your girls want nothing to do with it yet. Only way to stop it is to house the boys by themselves (but still in sight) until the hens are beginning to lay. This also leaves you more time to choose which rooster stays as it is too early to tell what their adult plumage/personality will be at this age.

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

In the case of Leghorns it us not unusual for them to start laying at 17 wks. I know mine did. The leghorn cross cockerals have also matured early. They started this behavior and attemps at crowing at 10wks. None of the other crossed cockerals have shown this and they are 15 wks. See my signature for the crosses of chicks.