Typical cockerel behaviour?

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TXmama4boys

TXmama4boys

Songster
10 Years
Jul 4, 2013
137
5
151
Texas Hill Country
Our flock is finally 19 weeks old. That pullets are staring to exhibit egg laying behaviour. Our cockerel started crowing 2 weeks ago and has just started mounting 1 pullet. He has singled her out and doesn't seem to give her much of a break. The other ladies he has just been pulling feathers on their heads. Is this a bad sign That he will become more aggressive as time passes or is it typical for a young rooster? How long do I let him continue being a meanie?
 
Pretty typical....they are ruled by hormones and with no older hens to school them they are pretty wild at first.
Cockerels generally sexually mature before pullets(not fair really) and are ready to go before the pullets are.
It takes them all some time to figure things out also. Until the pullets submit and squat for him to mount, things are pretty hairy. Hard to say if he is or will be over aggressive, so much with chickens is kind of 'wait and see'. and it's hard not to over react when not familiar with their behaviors at first.

How many pullets do you have?
Do you have enough room, roosts and out of line of sight' refuges for the pullets get up and/or away from the cockerel?

You could segregate him for part of the day if the pullet(s) are over stressed(constantly hiding not eating/drinking) or the cockerel constantly chases/pins them down and/or draws blood.
 
Of our four 17 week old roosters one of them is acting like yours is although he's jumping anything that stops moving for more than 10 seconds. He also picks fights and has on several occasions had his rump trounced by our 1 year old BO rooster. Of the remaining three two of them are starting to show the same rough-and-tumble-teenage-boy characteristics. The last one, a BR/BO cross that is as big as our 1 year old already, is a wonderful bird to be around. He watches over the couple of ladies that hang out with him and hasn't caused any sort of issue. Three of four young roosters are going to freezer camp this weekend. You can probably guess which one we're keeping. Oh and our flock is up around 22 birds right now so there are plenty of options for the roosters that will remain.

Some birds are a little more "wound up" than others..... I prefer less.
 
Thanks for replies. I have 9 full grown pullets. I am glad this is typical behavior! It is funny because after I posted this, he seemed to mellow out for the next couple of days. :) I keep giving him treats when I go in the coop in hopes that we can be friends. Ever since his hormones kicked in he has been a little edgy.
 
Mine got loose last night (jumped/few over the netting) and ended up on the lower terrace. He looked confused and shocked, LOL! Let me pick him up with no fuss or chase and carry him back to HIS DOMAIN.
 
He's actually easier to catch than the girls when they get loose. The girls run, or try to jamb themselves back through the netting (and thus get stuck). He just looks up at me. "How the heck did I get here?"
 

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