The hens are 18 weeks old and the rooster is doing his thing. That means that the hens are maturing, right? Or is he just being a rooster?
my hens don't let the rooster near them until they are already laying or about to start. Which in my case has been a lot older than 18 weeks.
Our new rooster started mounting anything that would stand still when he was about 15 weeks old. The RIR hens weren't too excited about the idea of a rooster in the run. So he moved on to the pullets he was hatched with. He's so much bigger than the girls, he kinda squishes them. But the girls seem to tolerate it betterthan the hens. Since he is now about 21 weeks old the hens have gotten used to the idea and "occasionally" let him mount.
