Rough rooster

[Bejep714]

I have a 6 month old rooster that's a mix of our buff orpington and our buff silkie rooster. Hes alot bigger than his dad but doesnt bother him or anyone else but one orpongton we have who I think might have sight problems to begin with. Hes roughed her feathers, made her crown bloody and really has scared her and made her not want to be in the run or coop with the flock. Right now we have her inside but what should we do? I want to keep the rooster because he dad is older and not really active anymore, not as much as he used to be. Like I said he doesnt bother anyone but the hen, is there a way to stop this

 

[sourland]

He's a cockerel, and his hormones are out of control. I'd remove him from the flock until he matures. If his abusive behavior continued upon reintroduction, there are lots of great recipes. There are too many good roosters to tolerate an abusive one.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Put him in jail for a week, then let him back out, & see what happens?

 

[50-45-1]

Your bully cockrel has figured out this more timid hen is fair game, and is abusive to her and doing her damage with his roughness.
He's 6 months old so his hormones are just beginning to rage.
As time goes on he will continue to dominate the other hens and beat up the smaller rooster too.
2 roosters are not a good idea unless you have lots and lots of daytime ranging space, And maybe separate coops.
Put him in time out if you must keep him
Personally, I keep only one rooster and if I have multiple to choose from, it's not the looks that make up my mind, but the attitude.
A good well behaved rooster is worth keeping.
Roosters with bad attitude and personality get made into yummy chicken noodle soup.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have a 6 month old rooster that's a mix of our buff orpington and our buff silkie rooster. Hes alot bigger than his dad but doesnt bother him or anyone else

As others mentioned, he is not a mature rooster. He is an immature cockerel hyped up on hormones. As you can see, size doesn't mean much. As the saying goes, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. That's why bantams often dominate full sized chickens. Right now he is still dominated by his Dad but that can change as he matures and gains self-confidence. Or it may not, you never know.

Flock dynamics (how they interact) can be pretty complicated any time, but when you throw in a hormonal cockerel they can get really complicated. Lots of different things can happen, depending a lot on the personalities of the chickens, both male and female. Usually when he matures into an adult rooster the hormones are under control and the hens accept him. The flock gets really peaceful. But not every cockerel matures into a good mature rooster and not every hen can accept him. "Usually" does not mean "every time". Sometimes they never settle down.

You have the complication of the mature rooster. They will determine which is dominant. Right now the Dad is but that can change. At some point they may fight to the death. They may reach an accommodation on how to take care of the flock together. Sometimes they work it out and you don't really see the drama. It often involves fighting, sometimes serious fighting.

With living animals you can never be sure how anything will work out. That's just the way it is with living animals.

but one orpongton we have who I think might have sight problems to begin with. Hes roughed her feathers, made her crown bloody and really has scared her and made her not want to be in the run or coop with the flock.

It is not that unusual for two chickens to have a personality clash. That can be a fight for dominance, but often it is a strong chicken beating up a weak chicken, especially one that is weak or injured. To me it sounds like that cockerel is really insecure but has found one he can dominate. If he is pecking her head he could easily kill her. You will notice when your older rooster mates he grabs the hens by the back of the head. That's part of mating, it tells the hen to raise her tail up put of the way so he can hit the target. That's not what I'm talking about. If he is pecking her head he is trying to kill her.

Right now we have her inside but what should we do? I want to keep the rooster because he dad is older and not really active anymore, not as much as he used to be. Like I said he doesnt bother anyone but the hen, is there a way to stop this

He may not be bothering anyone else yet but that can change as he gains self-confidence.

So what can you do? You have several options.

You can eliminate that hen. That would eliminate the immediate problem but there is a pretty good chance other problems will show up later as he matures. I've had to choose between two chickens before to maintain peace in the flock. If she is having sight problems I would not want to hatch any of her eggs anyway. But that is just me. That would not bother many people.

You can eliminate the cockerel. Again, that eliminates the immediate problem. If you bring in a new cockerel/rooster while that older rooster is still there you can have some serious conflict between them. If you wait until that old rooster is gone and bring in a mature rooster, that usually goes pretty well. If you bring in an immature cockerel you often have drama.

You can do as you are doing now. Keep that hen separated and let her heal. Maybe keep her isolated until that cockerel gets to maturity. When will that be? Could be next week, though unlikely. Could be more than six months. I've had one cockerel mature younger than yours is now. I've had them wait a lot longer.

You can house him separated from the flock until he matures. Keeping him where the rest of the flock can see him could ease the transition when you reintroduce him but you can expect a likely fight between him and his father. It may not be that bad, it may be to the death. I don't know. How do you know he has matured? You let him out and see how it goes.

You can build a separate coop/run for each one of the boys and selected girls. Have two flocks permanently separated, each boy with his own harem.

That's all I can think of. Sometimes animal husbandry requires so hard decisions.

 

[Bejep714]

so we tried to keep the rooster inside but he cockodoodled at 5 in the morning so now alot of people dont want him inside anymore. We dont have anywhere else really for him to go except back outside. Would it make sense to have him outside at night and trade them for some of the day or would this not make any sense? I know I got alot of good advice already but I want to make this work for them both

 

[Bejep714]

So I think we're going to sell the rooster. We had him outside for a bit to clean the cage up, and we dont have anywhere else to put him so we put him in the run for a bit. We thought it was ok because hes been in there all the time. Well I think he started bothering the hen so his dad jumped in and they beat each other up a bit. He younger one got it bad on his neck and the older guys feathers on his head were ripped off. We brought him and the hen inside while we find a home for the younger rooster. I really wanted it to work, but I care alot about the older rooster and the hen we have and all this blood is not worth it. Hes not dripping blood or anything but he was shaking uncontrollably before I brought him in and he seems banged up. Is there a way to help it or anything I should do? The second he was inside with the hen he started making the noises he makes when hes telling them theirs food so hes acting normal, I just want to make sure hes ok

 

[Bejep714]

I got some pictures of our rooster. For clarification he did not have much hair on his head to begin with and is acting fine. I just want to make sure

 

[ChicFil- A]

I have a 6 month old rooster that's a mix of our buff orpington and our buff silkie rooster. Hes alot bigger than his dad but doesnt bother him or anyone else but one orpongton we have who I think might have sight problems to begin with. Hes roughed her feathers, made her crown bloody and really has scared her and made her not want to be in the run or coop with the flock. Right now we have her inside but what should we do? I want to keep the rooster because he dad is older and not really active anymore, not as much as he used to be. Like I said he doesnt bother anyone but the hen, is there a way to stop this

It’s time to step in and correct the rooster or separate them…. He’s a brute and it’s going to far!!! in my opinion