Silkie Rooster Being Mean

[lmathison41]

I got my chickens when they were 8 weeks old, they are now 22 weeks. 2 silkies and 4 RIR. Well my silkies turned out to be roosters. The smaller of the silkies, Louise aka Lewy seems to be very aggressive towards the hens. He will grab the back of their neck and pull on them. He also will chase the girls around. My other silkie rooster, Thelma aka Theo does not act that aggressive.
I don't know if I should be concerned or worried about Lewy being this aggressive towards the hens or if it's just a phase. All the girls seems to be fine and there are no battle wounds.

Is this normal? Do I need to relocate Lewy which I really don't want to have to.

HELP!!!!!

 

[QueenMisha]

What you're looking at is one of the fundamental differences between a Good Rooster and a Bad Rooster. Bad roosters will chase, harass, and terrify hens. Good roosters will care for them, dance for them, find them food, and will not overmate them. Some Bad Cockerels can grow up into Good Roosters, but if you already have one good rooster on your hands, don't waste time with a bratty cockerel. I personally would never purposefully allow a bird who displayed any signs of a "bad" rooster at any point to remain in my flock, or, god forbid, breed. Even if they outgrow the behavior, they still had it at one time, and could easily pass on the traits to their offspring.

 

[cafarmgirl]

I agree, no patience here for jerky roo's. It is true though that some roo's settle down and become decent with maturity, if you are willing to wait this out until he's about a year old. The roosters mature sooner then the hens and want to get things going before the hens are ready, that's why things sometimes settle down once everybody is a bit older.

The other issue you may get into with a very small flock is these two roosters fighting a lot over the hens. Sometimes they will learn to get along sometimes they don't.

 

[lmathison41]

The roosters haven't had any problems with each other. Of course we didn't know both silkies were roos until a month ago. I am just hoping that this one will grow out of it. I have noticed how he does dance around the hens so I wasn't sure if the pulling on the necks was part of the mating dance or not.

 

[donrae]

He's not being mean, he's just horny

. this is all normal for a young cockerel, especially with pullets of the same age. There's no elder in the flock to keep him in check, so his hormones have free run. Males grab the neck of females during mating. He may be having technical difficulties not only due to young age and inexperience, but also the difference in size between him and the ladies.

 

[lmathison41]

Thank you that's what I was hoping!!! Hopefully he will get it figured out quickly!!!!!