Rooster's disposition changed when another young roo was introduced

[bockti39]

Hello,

I have a 4 month Buff roo who has always been very nice and passive. He got along great with the other 4 roos and 2 pullets he grew up with. I had to cull the other 4 roos since it was just too much crowing and stressful on the 2 girls (my first experience with chickens, I bought 7 sexed chicks and 5 of them turned out to be roos!!). So he has been the only male with 4 hens (added 2 more) until I just introduced a 2 month old roo and another pullet after letting them see each other for a while. The younger roo is dominant (Black Copper Marans) and the Buff has started to be aggressive and nasty to me and the hens. One of them has to go and since the Buff is abusing the new 2 month old pullet and the older girls I am thinking it has to be him. I HATE culling and was wondering if anyone has any advice? Will his nasty behavior stop? And is it normal for a 5 month old roo to try and mate with a 2 month old? He's 4x her size and she's traumatized. Thanks!!

 

[Pork Pie]

The general rule of thumb is 10 females to one male, so its likely that you have insufficient females to allow things to work themselves out, and this is likely the main cause of the problems you describe. Considering what you have on your plate right now, I think that your initial thought on culling the aggressive roo is probably the best idea. I would think that the attempted mating of such young birds is more a sign of frustration, rather than anything else.

Maybe in the future, if you are keeping more than one cockerel / roo (one assumes for breeding purposes) then they are best kept in separate pens and not allowed to mingle with your hens. You can then put your hens of choice into the pen of your roo of choice whenever you wish to breed.

CT

 

[chickens really]

Introducing new birds to an established flock always changes the pecking order. Your Buff Rooster is only doing what comes natural to him. It looks like he is being mean, but he is trying to control his hens. As for being aggressive towards you, your just another threat as he is trying to protect his hens. I would remove the new Rooster and things will get back to normal.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Yeah to many roos. My thinking is 7 hens per roo at the bare minimum. Have a delicious roo dinner this Sunday and get a couple more girls. Also if you're keeping more than one rooster. You should have a large coop and be able to free range. In my opinion. GC