What are Roos doing getting in the nest boxes??

Reurra

Crowing
13 Years
Apr 11, 2012
2,145
958
387
Nova Scotia
I finally got a day where I could sit and watch my birds. I was at a friends house earlier with her birds and her rooster started to do some odd things. I came home and decided to watch my own bird and see if he does it too, just to see if it was normal behavior.

My rooster is in love with one of my hens. He takes good care of her and does not give her a hard time. She is the older of my 2 hens, her name is Crackers. Then there is Frightful. Poor Frightful is still too young to lay, but my roo persists on jumping her. Hes definitely is trying to do the deed. Ive noticed whit for a few days now. Neither of the girls go to the nest boxes but persist on sleeping on the ground or under the nest boxes.

Thats not the whole of it though. After an hour of sitting and the birds getting used to my presence, my Roo started doing what my friends bird was doing. The Roo goes up into the nest box and clucks and chirps but wont let the hens go lay up there. He also goes into corners and does the same thing, stomping his feet and chirruping and gurgling little songs with his head in the corner.

Whats he doing? After I saw my friends roo do this and now mine, Im wondering if we have some confused roos.

My friend was having some trouble with broken eggs and we think this might be why, a roo in the nest box. Not only that he is chasing away her hens so they cant lay.
 
Some roos do this presumably to tell the hens, this is a good place to lay an egg. Maybe he's just getting carried away, has too much of that hormone. Since yours won't lay there anyway, I believe I'd block off the nests for a week or so. Chickens have short memories. They try golf balls. Maybe it will work....

One roo to two hens is a lot of roo, too. Maybe he is showing frustration. I have one roo to 10 hens and some of them still have torn up back feathers from mating. One to 10 is supposed to be the ideal, to get the eggs fertilised and not tear up the hens too badly, but I don't believe there is a magic ratio, and mine is really by accident. I liked things better when I had one roo to about 16 hens, actually.
 
He's selecting a nesting site for the hens. Most roosters engage in this behavior. All use the same 'site selection sounds' to define what they think are good places for their girls to lay.
 
My friends rooster keeps chasing his girls away though? Seems counter productive.
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Now my roo has got the girls up on the roost and hes pecking his favorite hen on the head and making her scream.
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I know hes a bit of a teenager at this point at just about a year old, but I totally dont understand his behavior!
hu.gif
 
My friends rooster keeps chasing his girls away though? Seems counter productive.
th.gif


Now my roo has got the girls up on the roost and hes pecking his favorite hen on the head and making her scream.
somad.gif


I know hes a bit of a teenager at this point at just about a year old, but I totally dont understand his behavior!
hu.gif

I feel your pain, lol! I’m a new chicken keeper. Got my first six, one of which Turned out to be a roo, 19 weeks ago. My first egg, Yesterday! Woohoo! Anywho, my roo, has been in and out of quarantine in his bachelors quarters for weeks now, as he too does aggressive stuff towards the hens. I know it’s because he is young, had no older roo to train him, and he is same age as my girls, but I have tamed him a bit. But, Sarge, will go into the coop and try to mount my smallest hen, has pecked a spot at her tail, causes a lot of ruckus in there, and is forever bossing the girls when HE wants to eat first. Pecking at them etc. I have put him in his place many times and he knows my tone of voice now for sure. So, I can’t help much, except, throwing him in to the separate pen has helped, and he whines all day when in there, as he can see them but not get to them. Maybe you could try for a week?
 

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