Roosters with hens

Date sort Score sort
rebrascora said:
They are not yet sexually mature. Once those male hormones kick in there is a good chance that pullet is going to be terrorised and mated half to death by them. There are circumstances where you might be able to keep a mature hen and rooster together with two adolescent males if they had plenty of room, but 3 adolescent males and one young pullet is not a healthy or happy combination.
Males usually mature sexually before the females and are at the whim of their hormones and all they want to do is mate. The pullet will almost certainly get forcibly mated by all of them repeatedly. In a more natural situation where they were raised in a family group with mature hens and a dominant rooster, he would protect her from the sexual advances of other males until she was mature enough for him to mate and the older hens would put the young cockerels in their place and teach them some manners. If these birds are all the same age and being brought up together, there are no mature birds to keep them in check and it can get ugly very quickly.

I would urge you to get rid of or make a bachelor pad for the boys and find your pullet a couple of female friends. Even with just one cockerel she will most likely be overmated and end up with bald and possible raw patches on her shoulders and neck. There is a big difference between a mature rooster and an adolescent cockerel that many people fail to appreciate.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I'm going what you're saying.
 
rebrascora said:
They are not yet sexually mature. Once those male hormones kick in there is a good chance that pullet is going to be terrorised and mated half to death by them. There are circumstances where you might be able to keep a mature hen and rooster together with two adolescent males if they had plenty of room, but 3 adolescent males and one young pullet is not a healthy or happy combination.
Males usually mature sexually before the females and are at the whim of their hormones and all they want to do is mate. The pullet will almost certainly get forcibly mated by all of them repeatedly. In a more natural situation where they were raised in a family group with mature hens and a dominant rooster, he would protect her from the sexual advances of other males until she was mature enough for him to mate and the older hens would put the young cockerels in their place and teach them some manners. If these birds are all the same age and being brought up together, there are no mature birds to keep them in check and it can get ugly very quickly.

I would urge you to get rid of or make a bachelor pad for the boys and find your pullet a couple of female friends. Even with just one cockerel she will most likely be overmated and end up with bald and possible raw patches on her shoulders and neck. There is a big difference between a mature rooster and an adolescent cockerel that many people fail to appreciate.
Click to expand...
If she gets abused you can also look into acquiring "hen saddles" to keep the roo's from tearing up her back. My vote is for restraining them if they get too rough.
 
A few years ago, I hatched out chicks. I had half cockerels, half pullets. Once those cockerels reached mating age, they harassed the pullets to no end. One would take after a pullet, a few more would join in, they'd gang breed her and move on. The pullets couldn't eat, drink, dust bathe or anything in peace. There were always cockerels chasing after them. This lasted just a couple of days and then the boys got put in a bachelor/grow out pen. For your pullet's sake, I would recommend separating those cockerels now or at least having a plan to do so at the first sign of trouble.
 
Zack123 said:
Ok thanks! Yeah you're right more hens more eggs :) How could i get more hens though? Ive been wanting to get some,but i thought u would have to get them in spring.
Click to expand...
Zack123 said:
I live in Anderson sc. Idk if Tractor Supply has any chicks near me
Click to expand...

You can put an ad in IWANNA for free (hens wanted). Call the Clemson Ag Extension Service (or whatever it's called) to see if they know where to get hens this time of year.
 
I have four roosters and 8 hens. The father is 3yr and top chicken. The other three are his sons an they are 9months all been raised together. They dont fight. Maybe a little puff up here an there but nothing more. The only time when one gets hurt is when one of them that has a big comb an wattles mates. The dad goes right for comb an wattles an makes him blees. Ive had to remove him this winter because of this. I went out an hour later and it was a blood bath a few weeks ago. My hens actually scare off the other two roosters. I have found vidoes online on how to make a rooster submissive and to me i think it works. I ignore what people say about roosters to me they are like any other animal some are naturally mean or treated that way an some are not. I think it has to do with how you handle them and how much time you spend with them. Mating is the main issue i think. This is just my opinion on my own experience so far with raising roosters. An you can always try an rehome them. They could get to aggressive since there's only one hen. Im only keeping all of mine because they get along fine, the variety in color for mating in chicks an when ever theyre dad dies. I will have to rehome the one i have inside because he needs to have his own flock. Best of luck and definitely get more hens!
 
@Chelseyb123

This is exactly the point I was trying to make.....

Your situation works because you have older mature chickens, both hens and a rooster to keep the boys in line and deal with them if they step out of line. In a flock where there are only youngsters and 3 are male, the pullet is going to get a hammering without senior chickens to keep the lads in check. Personally I don't worry so much about the boys fighting as long as they have plenty of space to get away from each other but the pullet has little chance of peace when there are 3 of them all looking to have a piece of her most of the day. As bobbi-j says it gets to the stage where she can't eat or drink without being jumped and 3 onto one is brutal.
I find it a lot easier to cull surplus cockerels now I've seen how they mercilessly gang up on a pullet. They have a good life until they go to freezer camp because the wellbeing of my girls has to come first.
 
Yes very true space is key when having many roosters. in the summer when i got them letting them free range and stretch their feathers made them get along much better an i made a huge pen for them to do as well in. They like being able to go out during the day and even in the winter so they arent cooped up together. As for pullets an small hens i completely agree. I have a leg horn 9month old an shes all my roosters favorite became bareback from it this winter! because they are so much bigger than her and how many i have i had to bring her and inside . she was still eating an drinking fine but still acted stressed when they were around. the rest of my flock is between ages 9m-3yrs and are all much more hardy an larger than her. Im going to have to find her a new home when spring comes as well as my white rooster. Its not fair to him or her they are both great chickens but are both at the bottom of pecking order and need to be with chicken as similar temperaments and personalities and also in a small flock. but the rest of my roosters ill keep since they do well together and i want them for mating. Everyone's situation is different.
 
I never hear folks mention that multiple roosters can actually prevent a hen from being mated too much. I see it all of the time where one of my roosters will run and knock another rooster off of a hen it is trying to mate. When I had 3 roosters and 1 hen, they all did it to each other constantly. It was hilarious.
 

Similar threads

R
    • Like
Roosters
Replies
5
Views
347
Mrs. K
Mrs. K
P
How to divide up this year's chicks ?
Replies
4
Views
913
Mrs. K
Mrs. K
Celine7nh
    • Like
Wishful thinking with multiple Roos
Replies
4
Views
644
SamLockwood
SamLockwood
A
Seeking Advice: Young Rooster in Flock with Older Rooster
2
Replies
12
Views
2K
Anon112
A
G
    • Like
Flock Behavior - two groups
Replies
3
Views
832
Mrs. K
Mrs. K

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom