What!? Separate my Rooster from Hens?

[mompom]

Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens says (pg. 238) to separate the rooster from the hens at about 3-8 weeks of age. Because they become more sexually active and pecking order gets serious. My 10 pullets and one rooster are 7 1/2 weeks old. I have noticed signs of pecking order - they fly about and then stop and stare at each other as if in a contest of 'who's better'. But twice I have noticed the rooster briefly jump onto the back of an unsuspecting pullet, grab her neck feathers, then jump off. So my question is WHY separate the rooster? Are they too young yet? Would it damage a pullet in some way so she couldn't lay? And if there is a good reason, how? I have one coop and a big run. I could section off one end of the run, but then I'd need shelter, etc for him. Could they be near each other separated just by chicken wire? Other than making saddles for the girls, do I need to do this?

 

[donrae]

I'm just gonna say, take everything in Storey's with a good grain of salt

.

That said, cockerels do mature faster than pullets. In a multi age flock, there are older hens and on older rooster to teach him manners and keep the little punk in line. In a flock all the same age as you have, there's no one to keep him in check and he can be hard on the pullets. Chicken mating does not involve any penetration, so he's not going to damage them internally, but he can make life rough and pull feathers, cause screaming and fighting, etc. Again, his hormones are flowing hard! and once the pullets do start reaching sexual maturity, they still often don't understand the mating process and it looks pretty traumatic for a while.

It's up to you if you pull him. If you plan to keep him, I'd lean toward just keeping him with them and letting them figure it out. It will depend on your tolerance for disturbance in your flock, and on his temperament and how he treats the pullets. Bloodshed should lead to separation, so should harassing a specific pullet to the point where she's actively hiding from him.

The thing is, even if you separate until the pullets are sexually mature, you're still going to get issues when you put him back. He'll have to dominate each hen and establish himself as the boss.

 

[mompom]

Thank you for your reply. I will let them work it out. 'Course I am still the ruler of the roost! I better get some saddles made just in case! However, if chicken mating does not involve any penetration, how does the egg get fertilized?

 

[junebuggena]

He basically squirts his semen into the hen's vent. It will then travel up to the ovaries where it can fertilize eggs for up to two weeks.

 

[aart]

Ditto the grain of salt...I'd say a shaker of salt, and not the one Jimmy Buffet sings of.
Applies to 99% of the chicken keeping books out there.

They basically touch vents when mating.....often called the 'cloacal kiss', the rooster releasing the sperm and the hen drawing it into her body.

He won't start being trouble until about 3-4 months old, the saddles really won't help much and might even stress the pullets more than the cockerel.
Most the feather loss at this stage is from the back of the neck.
I've got a group now at 14 weeks and this behavior has just increased the last week...he's going on the grill this weekend.

 

[mompom]

Well, I learned today, thank you! I'll think about the saddles - maybe if one gets hurt with blood as a temporary bandage? We were planning to have some chicken dinners, but we've become so attached to these 11, that we might wait till we have some more chicks. I won't have the grandchildren name them. But if Stan the Man gets outta hand, he could end up in the pot. Thank you both so much for the correct information.