I have 13 Buff Orps (2 Roos) & 13 Black Australorps (3 roos), all will be 5 months old at the end of November. While I've been out stringing fishing lines to keep the hawks out of my hen yard, I've noticed one of the Black Australorps is getting rough with the hens; all of the hens.
My guess is that he's trying to learn to breed and the hens are too young for it. I've watched for hours and none of the other roos are showing this behavior. And a number of my hens are losing the neck feathers in great quantity. I miss having roosters that are gentlemen with their hens. It seems every since I started ordering from hatcheries, I've gotten the roughest roos ever. I've always raised mixed breeds culled from friends & neighbors or gotten egg layer breeds from the local feed stores. (Maybe I should figure out where their birds are coming from and order from their hatcheries. Maybe it's in the genetic pool my hatchery is producing?????) ANYWAY:
Which option would you guys choose:
1) Leave him alone, he'll grow out of it.
2) Put the sex crazed roo in with my 5 year old hens (I've caged their roos getting them ready for the freezer because I want my Orps & Australorps to replace my old flock. AND, they were too rough with the hens. I've been dealing with naked hens for almost 2 years).
3) Cull him (put him next to the other roosters.)
4) Give him a jail sentence and release him when the hens are old enough to appreciate his efforts.
I won't rehome him in my area; too much rooster fighting goes on in these parts. So that would not be an option.
My guess is that he's trying to learn to breed and the hens are too young for it. I've watched for hours and none of the other roos are showing this behavior. And a number of my hens are losing the neck feathers in great quantity. I miss having roosters that are gentlemen with their hens. It seems every since I started ordering from hatcheries, I've gotten the roughest roos ever. I've always raised mixed breeds culled from friends & neighbors or gotten egg layer breeds from the local feed stores. (Maybe I should figure out where their birds are coming from and order from their hatcheries. Maybe it's in the genetic pool my hatchery is producing?????) ANYWAY:
Which option would you guys choose:
1) Leave him alone, he'll grow out of it.
2) Put the sex crazed roo in with my 5 year old hens (I've caged their roos getting them ready for the freezer because I want my Orps & Australorps to replace my old flock. AND, they were too rough with the hens. I've been dealing with naked hens for almost 2 years).
3) Cull him (put him next to the other roosters.)
4) Give him a jail sentence and release him when the hens are old enough to appreciate his efforts.
I won't rehome him in my area; too much rooster fighting goes on in these parts. So that would not be an option.
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