Should I drop a rooster?

[Bp10244]

I have 2 roosters and 6 hens. I’ve always known that eventually one may have to go, but wanted to wait to see if they could live together. Recently the girls started laying and the boys began to come of age if you know what i mean. As I walked out to the coop this morning to let them out, my one boy was acting weird and following me around. Eventually he ran at my leg and wouldn’t stop so I had to get out of the run. Is there any time to reverse this or do I need to rehome this rooster?

 

[The Moonshiner]

With 6 hens and already knowing one day one may have to go is there a reason you need two roosters?
I think I'd let him go just because of his behavior.

 

[Aapomp831]

You shouldn’t have left the run, you should have grabbed him and made him submit. Now he thinks he won and will continue to attack you... you have to hold him down and be the “bigger rooster” but sometimes that doesn’t work. If you want to keep both roosters, more than likely you will need to get at least 6 more hens so they each have their own girls and won’t fight... but again, that’s not always a guarantee. We have a little Bantam rooster that used to sit in my lap for pets all the time but I’ve had to put him in his place a lot lately.... I keep him because he’s too small to really hurt us (I drummel his spurs) and bc he’s a good protective rooster.
Moral of the story.... don’t run away from the rooster, stand up and fight. Gently pick him up and hold him like a football with his head down until he calms. Then you can either hold him and love on him or hold him on the ground like he would a submissive hen. He has to know that you are in charge and not him.

 

[Cryss]

The behavior is normal, but should not be allowed. Cockerels are instinctively predisposed to protect their girls. In a well protected run YOU are the only thing that enters and could possibly be a threat. You're the only thing he has seen as a possible threat. There are great articles here about training a cockerel to become a great rooster. I can't recall who wrote it but one that I've been using with good success instructs you to never walk around your flock. Push through making them move. When your cockerel comes for you get ahold of him, push him all the way down to the ground holding him with one hand. With the other hand pinch the back of his neck pushing his head down too. Hold until he relaxes. I hold a few more seconds. Then release him. He will be subdued for a bit but do this every single time he tries to come at you. He will be humiliated in front of his females and eventually respect you as top rooster. In return respect him by ignoring him otherwise. He won't be your best friend but he won't be your enemy. You spoke his language. It was also suggested you don't allow him to crow when you are present. Chase him making him stop crowing to run away. I've found the neck pinch and pressure (gently! Only enough to hold him in position, not torture) to be very effective and rather quickly with my cockerel. He's still young, 8 1/2 months, so he's still a hormonal teenager, but I see him becoming a good rooster. The only time I ever really see him become aggressive now is if we make a hen upset like when checking out a gal and she squawks and flaps. He is ready to protect his ladies. Just be aware and ready to correct him.
All this being said, there should be minimally 10 hens per rooster so one should go unless you are getting more gals. When you make your choice be prepared for the one you keep to step up to be the ruling rooster. You will need to correct him even if he never exhibited agression before. He's no longer bottom Roo. You need to remind him he IS bottom Roo, second in command behind you.
Good luck. Let us know how it all goes.

 

[aart]

I’ve always known that eventually one may have to go

Now you're sure.

 

[Ridgerunner]

First, why do you want roosters? What are your goals involving them? The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Everything else is just personal preference. I generally recommend that you keep as few roosters as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems with multiple roosters but that problems are more likely.

You do not have roosters and hens, you have cockerels and pullets. There is a lot of difference in their behaviors. Males are going to mate the females, that is life in the chicken world. Mature roosters and hens normally handle this without drama but immature pullets and immature cockerels often add a lot of excitement to this. Don't expect the interaction between your cockerels and pullets to be the same when they mature, if they make it that far.

Some people will tell you that you absolutely cannot have two males and six females, disaster is certain. Some of us have had different experiences. But a big factor is that you generally need a lot of room. Forget that 4 square feet in the coop with 10 in the run per chicken. With your small number of chickens the coop probably needs to be a little bigger but the outside area probably needs to be a lot bigger. As active as cockerels can be when they are hopped up on their hormones it can get pretty rough as they go through adolescence. I'm strongly in favor of as much room as you can reasonably give them and I recommend you keep as few roosters as you can and still meet your goals. It is possible you can get by with 2 males and 6 females, you can wait and see as far as cockerel/pullet interaction goes, but I really think your best number of roosters is going to be 0 or 1, not 2.

To your real question, can you do something about him attacking you. You can try, he is only a cockerel, not a grown rooster. Sometimes they can be taught that they are not superior to you. We have different techniques for that but they depend a lot on your attitude and actions. You have to show him you are boss and not part of his flock. Some people don't have the attitude to do that and the cockerels or roosters can sense when you are afraid. Even if you do teach him not to attack you the minute your back is turned, he might still attack other people, including kids. I have changed cockerels' attitudes successfully and they did not go on to attack other people, but I've also had failures.

 

[The Moonshiner]

A cockerel charging you is not normal behavior. It's sad that people believe this.

Bekissed is the member with the article mentioned.
I don't believe in long term behavior modification for cockerels/roosters myself and know there are too many cockerels out there that don't act that way that are in need of a home to bother with trying to fix one.

 

[cmom]

I had a young male that was in a bachelor pen and was getting picked on by the others males so bad he couldn't walk. I put him in a small pen with my pet chicken Gladys. She stuck by him and eventually he improved. He gradually started walking and eventually was good again, then he started to run at my legs and wouldn’t stop then he did the same thing to my husband so I sold him. Often times when they are moved and they are then at the bottom of the pecking order they will stop. I have only had a couple of males do this, one went to an auction and the other I sold at a farm swap. I hatch out all of my chicks right now I have around 300 eggs in the incubator. When the males get big enough they go into bachelor pens. As long as there are no females they have been ok. Every once in awhile one male may get picked on and I will remove him but not very often.

 

[Bp10244]

Thank you!!!

 

[featherhead007]

I noticed when I remove the roosters away from the girls, they suddenly become more tame and don't try to bite or attack me.