very aggressive rooster

[bobbie]

I'm new to this whole thing so this may sound stupid. I thought I got 3 hens, but ended up with 2 roosters and 1 hen. Things were going fairly well, but I decided to get some more girls, so I got 4 more. Now my dominant rooster is being very aggressive. He will not let anyone come out of the coop, he is beating everyone up and not allowing them to get to food and water. He is young 5 months old. Do u think he is just stressed and doesn't know what to do yet? I don't want to get rid of him. Any suggestions or help?

 

[easttxchick]

Your boy is starting to mature and show his stripes, so to speak. Your dominant rooster is trying to establish himself as the Alpha Roo by showing everyone who the boss is in your flock.
2 roosters to 5 hens is a recipe for trouble, in most cases. You either need to get some more hens(1 rooster to 10 hens is supposed to be the "ideal" ratio) or get rid of one of your roosters to avoid problems in your flock.
Good luck to you.

 

[damselfish]

Yes, what she said. Two will be far too much stress on five ladies. Even one may be more than enough.

And I completely forgot to add:

 

[snowflake]

Didoo,,,,,

1 roo to 10 or more hens. I had 3 with21 hens the stress started to show not only with loss of feathers on my pretty hens but egg laying problems(soft shells,egg slow down, wrinkled shells) found a home for youngest roo and things are looking better. You might try picking him up and carrying him around while you do things out side. This may take him down a peg and you don't want him to become overly aggressive with humans. But unless you can get 20 hens 1 rooster needs to go. Also as you found out,when you get baby chicks, often some of the hens turn out to be roo's so you need to re-home or cull.......sorry

 

[bobbie]

Thank u for all the advise. I will consider getting rid of one. Thx

 

[sourland]

Expressing dominance or not- no rooster should show "hen" or "human" aggression. Get rid of the aggressive rooster, and hopefully the second in command will be more mellow.

 

[bantamboy]

i have heard that if you have three roosters instead of two then the third one will somewhat keep them from fighting it has worked for me