Unfriendly rooster with his hens

[chzheadgrl]

About 3 weeks ago, I got two hens for my 4 month old rooster. I set up an area connecting to his for them to get used to eachother. The problem is, he still is trying to hurt them and attacks them when they're together. I have a great chicken coop area with 6 ft fencing to prevent escapes. However, these hens keep getting out of their "jerry-rigged" small area and I spend all day chasing them out of the neighbors field. I need to find a way to get all three living together in peace and safety. Oh, and the hens aren't laying eggs yet...but they should be very soon.

What do I do?!

 

[Critter Crazed]

Put them together at night and then see what they do when they wake up maybe? Sometimes that will help transitions. I think he's just trying to tell the hens that he's boss. I'm having the same problem putting my 3 month olds in with my 2 big chickens. My rooster is fine with them but my hen just wants to beat the crap out of them! It's a power thing. I'm going to try putting them together at night. Hopefully it works for both of us.

 

[chzheadgrl]

Hello,

I was wondering if was just a power thing or if he was trying to get some "lovin'"

. But he grabs feathers out of her, so I get paranoid that he's going to hurt her. It would make sense to put them together at night, I'm just so afraid that he'll kill them in the morning...but I am running out of ideas!

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[Critter Crazed]

He could be trying to get some "lovin" too

Just watch them when they wake up in the morning. You'll have to get up when they do and supervise.

 

[chzheadgrl]

I already asked my husband to give the rooster a "man talk" about how to get the ladies, but for some reason he didn't do it...

Anyways, you don't think he'll attack them at night? He is like a rag doll as soon as the sun goes down...

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[silkiechicken]

Well, the boy is 4 months old.

All chickens will fight for a week, or two, or even 3 or 4 until they establish a pecking order. No active bleeding, let them dual it out or the transition can take weeks longer than it needs to.

That said, your rooster is young, he won't have the gentle rooster nature about him for another 2-4 months. He will grab hens backs, pull feathers out, try and jump them to force them to do what he wants, and that is normal for a young male.

Best of luck!

 

[kano]

The boy is TOO young to know how to treat the ladies.

 

[Keens2050]

Thanks all! This is EXACTLY what I was going to post about! I Love this forum! My 4 month old SLW rooster I just put in with my 4 month old SLW about 2 1/2 weeks ago. He is a Don Knotts - not a Don Juan. I was sooo hoping it was just because he's young and inexperienced - sounds like he is. He's pulling feathers and completely terrorizing the hens because they run from him and avoid him like the plague. Hopefully, as mentioned earlier, he will calm down and mature gracefully into a nice rooster. Otherwise, we don't need him except for soup!