Should I find new rooster?

[Ridgerunner]

With the younger ones, even if they are laying, they may not be mature enough to know what they are supposed to do. Pullets normally mature a lot when they start to lay but that doesn’t mean all do and it especially doesn’t mean right at the instant they lay their first egg. So don’t put much into how your pullets are acting. But they are more likely to squat for a less-than-majestic male than the older hens are.

To impress older hens a rooster normally has to act like a good potential father of their children. Some hens will squat for almost anything in spurs but most are more selective. In addition to dancing, finding them food, acting as an early warning system, and maintaining peace in his flock the rooster needs to impress them with his self-confidence and magnificence. Some hens just have higher standards. Most roosters are able to handle most of that but some never can. And I agree, there is a lot more running away and chasing in normal hen/rooster relationships than many people would have you believe.

At his age he is not likely to get much better than he is, though it is possible. Some really mature slowly. If it is the older hens squawking and resisting him, that can continue. But what are your goals? If all you want is fertile eggs, the eggs are probably fertile. The hens are not likely to be hurt by him forcing them. You’ll probably get as much predator protection from him as you would another rooster, though I agree it’s not much. You can try replacing him if you wish, you might get one more to your liking. But I suffered with a gentleman rooster all last season. He was such a gentleman that if the hen ran away he would not chase, just quit. I suffered with poor fertility all last season, but he has now been replaced.

I don’t know your goals. If he offends you, get rid of him. Whether or not you replace him is your decision. You may or may not need one.

 

[melishkia]

I would like to incubate the eggs, I have noticed the eggs becoming less and less fertile then again I only have 2 laying hens right now. I think they're hurting his confidence cause he isn't even that interested it seems. I also have a predator problem and since adding the rooster it has greatly improved the problem, I would definitely keep a rooster because of that!

After everyones replies, I think I will be replacing him with an americauna or easter egger rooster. I enjoy having a rooster, I love seeing him watch over the flock and find the hens treats but its very sad to see him constantly rejected after all his efforts. I just can't get over the thought of his shear size and the little easter egger when she starts laying, he will just tear her up (not on purpose of course). I think everyone including myself would just be happier in the end. Mostly me.

 

[Wyatt0224]

Firstly, why do you want a rooster?

Hens will take themselves to bed without being escorted by a rooster and whilst some breeds are slightly better at predator warning than others, few can or will stand up to a predator.

In my experience, more hens object to being mated than accept it and less still actually invite advances by squatting. 

My advice would be that if you don't want to raise chicks then get rid of the rooster and don't replace him...... Your hens will be a lot happier.

If you want to raise chicks I would look for an older, experienced rooster, perhaps of the same breed as most of your hens so that you will be breeding some pure breeds and also perhaps more of a size with them (Brahmas are a very heavy breed), but don't kid yourself that they will all "like" him and accept his advances willingly.   

That is all wrong. You are correct that hens will go up to the coop by themselves but if the issue here is the hens not accepting the rooster yet, it will take time. I could be 100% wrong about him being defective and him just waiting for the younger hens to mature. It is very rare I find on here where someone had a rooster and he didn't defend his flock. Having a rooster is great and your hens will relish him in due time.

 

[poodlechicks]

I don't know about all hens accepting and being happy with a rooster in the flock. I am by all means not a seasoned flock owner. I've had my flock for 3 1/2 years now and can only draw from my own experience and that of backyard flocks I've visited, but my hens have not liked to have any of my roosters around. I've had 4 already. Some were gentler with the hens than others, but I have never seen one of my hens ever squatting for any of the roosters. They would mate when they were chased and subdued. Older hens chased cockerels away until they started getting bigger and more confident. I have rehomed the last of my roosters (hopefully and I can see the difference it made in my flock. My pullets and hens are much happier and laying more eggs.
As for protection, some of my roosters were more vocal than others, but none of them made a significant difference in protecting the flock. Some would even run for shelter first

I really like the beauty roosters add to a flock, but for me it's not worth having one around. For others having a rooster works very well.

If roosters are important to you, maybe it will be better for you to get another rooster that is more proportionate in size to your hens, but you will run the risk of getting a nasty rooster that might attack humans.

Best of luck to you!

 

[AshleyFarm]

Idk if this will help but I'll tell you my experience. I have been trying to get chicks from my girls for a long time. I had a big Roo. Beautiful and all the girls liked him. However he wasn't a very good roo when it came to dominance. He wouldn't mate with the hens nor act very rooster like. He passed and I replaced him with a bantam/Ameracauna mix who was much younger than my hens. And he is 2× smaller than my hens. With him I brought his girlfriend who was of the same breed. I wasn't necessarily wanting him to breed with the big girls but more so as a roo for the girls to have around and a future father to his girlfriend's chicks. With such a big size difference I never expected that he would in fact be able to mount the big girls and fertilize their eggs. I don't have an incubator and my big girls had no interest in brooding so I tossed them. but he is the perfect example of it doesn't matter the size difference nor the age difference. It's all on the roo and his personality.

 

[melishkia]

I totally agree with you on the size difference- a smaller male than female is never a bad thing, but when you have a giant male (brahma) and lets say a tiny female (such as bantam).. wouldn't you feel bad for the little girl? Not only that but his feet... they're huge! She would definitely have extra damage to her back than an average sized hen I would think? Or he would never really be able to mate with her and maybe just reject that hen because of that causing a separation in the flock.

This is the first rooster I've had so I really don't know about the behaviors I'm talking about just fyi lol just my assumptions.

 

[AshleyFarm]

I'm sorry I did misread your post. I thought you were saying the hens were bigger than the rooster. I'm in complete agreement on getting a new roo then. Being that much bigger than the hens isn't going to do much good for you. It'd be safer for your hens as well.

 

[melishkia]

Thats okay, thank you for understanding. I don't have a bantam but my tiny easter egger might as well be!

 

[Piton]

Maybe the chemistry between the Rooster and the hens is wrong.
He is quite simply not their cup of tea,

 

[melishkia]

In the end, I think that's exactly what the problem was.

Since starting this thread, I took action and re homed the Brahma rooster and found a young Ameri-Flower rooster that we are starting to integrate into the flock. The hens seem to be rather happy enjoying this little break, one of my hens that stopped laying (molting or stress from the rooster? or both?) seems to have returned to her normal self. She was really fearful for a while there which I figured was molting but now I'm wondering if it was just cause of the rooster... He wasn't the most pleasant to them when it came to mating but all otherwise wasn't a problem I thought.

Anyway, this little guy is still peeping. The lady that I got him from said he was crowing but I have yet to hear it. Since he is so young still, he is really sweet and charismatic! I can only hope this is just his personality and won't change when he hits sexual maturity.

Word of advice to anyone new to roosters like myself, if it doesn't feel right it probably isn't! Lol!