what to do with problematic rooster

[FolkSonginC]

I have a rooster, only about a year old, who's been exhibiting some pretty annoying behaviors. I don't know if it's due to his inexperience, but when he mates with my hens, if they don't crouch down for him, he chases them all over until he can catch them to mate, and it is definitely not consensual. He will literally jump on them while they're running away and force them to mate. From what I've read, roosters aren't supposed to do this. Is this a behavior he'll grow out of?

My second issue with him is that I recently had a family with their young kids over to visit our animals, and their son (6 years old) likes to go into the coop to pick up our friendliest chicken, which hasn't been a problem before. But the other day he was in there and the rooster attacked him, though I didn't see it. The kid seemed pretty freaked out, and when I got there the rooster was just sort of standing in front of him intimidatingly. This was the first time he'd ever attacked anyone, and the kid was fine (thankfully) but between that and his behavior around the hens I'm getting a little fed up with him. I've hatched several of his children because I didn't realize he was aggressive, as he had always been respectful of me. I have his son, who I hand-raised and is relatively friendly, should I be worried he might exhibit the same behaviors? I'm wondering if I should dispatch the current rooster and replace him with his son. Thanks in advance for any advice. I don't know if it's relevant to anything but the rooster is an easter egger.

 

[sourland]

The mating behavior you describe can be typical of cockerels, but he is reaching the point where he should be settling down. It is never a good idea to let small children interact with the flock without supervision. The rooster was only protecting his flock, but such behavior can escalate, and the potential for serious injury to a child exists. This sounds like a rooster to be closely watched. Good luck with him, and keep kids away.

 

[wamtazlady]

I personally would not keep any chicken that attacked a child. It is not safe and I could never trust that chicken again. Roosters can jump up and get a child in the face area. I had a rooster attack my grandson. Rooster went to freezer camp that day. I had just spent 6 weeks trying to tame that rooster down. I do hope your realize that if your aggressive rooster hurts a child, you could be sued. That he is not nice to the hens is just another reason to consider removing him from the flock. It could be his hormones are raging at his age. If you really want to keep him I would house him separately from the hens for a year and then see what happens.

As to the son, he may or may not be like his father. I did have the son of my rooster. He was fine with people. He was only aggressive to one hen and it was so bad he tried to kill her. He was sold with a group of young pullets.

 

[FolkSonginC]

The mating behavior you describe can be typical of cockerels, but he is reaching the point where he should be settling down. It is never a good idea to let small children interact with the flock without supervision. The rooster was only protecting his flock, but such behavior can escalate, and the potential for serious injury to a child exists. This sounds like a rooster to be closely watched. Good luck with him, and keep kids away.

I personally would not keep any chicken that attacked a child. It is not safe and I could never trust that chicken again. Roosters can jump up and get a child in the face area. I had a rooster attack my grandson. Rooster went to freezer camp that day. I had just spent 6 weeks trying to tame that rooster down. I do hope your realize that if your aggressive rooster hurts a child, you could be sued. That he is not nice to the hens is just another reason to consider removing him from the flock. It could be his hormones are raging at his age. If you really want to keep him I would house him separately from the hens for a year and then see what happens.

As to the son, he may or may not be like his father. I did have the son of my rooster. He was fine with people. He was only aggressive to one hen and it was so bad he tried to kill her. He was sold with a group of young pullets.

Thanks for the advice, I am definitely keeping an eye on him and keeping children away from now on, but I'm leaning towards culling him. I don't want to hatch chicks that could be aggressive, and I don't want a rooster that could hurt children. I'm also wondering about his son, who is about 5 months old and has yet to crow or exhibit mating behaviors. They are in separate flocks but can see each other, and they have gotten into a few conflicts before. Could it be that he isn't crowing because he is in sight of the dominant rooster? He also gets pushed around by my little bantam hamburg a little bit, which I find funny but I want to hatch chicks from him so I'm hoping he will start acting like a rooster soon. Would getting rid of dad possibly fix this problem too?

 

[wamtazlady]

Would getting rid of dad possibly fix this problem too?

In my little flock I have noticed that only the dominant rooster crows.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is this a behavior he'll grow out of?

Maybe, maybe not. Is it all the hens or just one or two? I know people don't like to hear this, if it is a male it must be his fault, but I believe the hens have a part to play in this too. Sometimes I think I'm the only women's libber on this forum. I've had a hen that would not accept any rooster. She had to be the boss. He finally beat her into submission, they became best of buddies after that, but it was really rough for a while.

At a year old I think what you have is a meek mild rooster. Mature hens often want a rooster to be worthy of being the father of their future children. They need to be impressed with his self-confidence and leadership. Yours may just be a late maturer but it sounds like he doesn't have the self-confidence it takes to impress all the hens. He may mature into that position but he really should have by now. If it's only one or two that won't submit, well their personalities may play into it.

But the other day he was in there and the rooster attacked him,

I don't necessarily see that as the rooster's fault, he was protecting his flock as he should. But that would be it for me, he would be gone. His fault or not, that is unacceptable.

I have his son, who I hand-raised and is relatively friendly, should I be worried he might exhibit the same behaviors?

There is discussion on here about how much of a rooster's behaviors are heredity versus environment. I believe both play a part. If you want to breed him I'd try it.

I don't know if it's relevant to anything but the rooster is an easter egger.

Not to me. EE's are not a breed, we can't even agree to a definition of what makes a chicken an EE. How can they have any tendencies if you can't define them? Anyway, you can find good or bad roosters of any defined breed.

He also gets pushed around by my little bantam hamburg a little bit

Another popular misconception. Size doesn't mean anything. It's the spirit in the chicken that counts, not size.

I'm hoping he will start acting like a rooster soon. Would getting rid of dad possibly fix this problem too?

I've had cockerels mature enough to take over a flock at 5 months. That's really young, Pretty rare. I've had some that could not do that until they were almost a year old. Most of mine can manage at 7 months. Again, the hens have a part to play in that too. If you have one or two that don't want to be dominated it can get pretty rough. Initially they may beat him up. He may eventually have to beat them into submission. Or the transition may be really smooth when he matures enough. There is no way to know in advance.

 

[CannedMonster]

Thanks for the advice, I am definitely keeping an eye on him and keeping children away from now on, but I'm leaning towards culling him. I don't want to hatch chicks that could be aggressive, and I don't want a rooster that could hurt children. I'm also wondering about his son, who is about 5 months old and has yet to crow or exhibit mating behaviors. They are in separate flocks but can see each other, and they have gotten into a few conflicts before. Could is be that he isn't crowing because he is in sight of the dominant rooster? He also gets pushed around by my little bantam hamburg a little bit, which I find funny but I want to hatch chicks from him so I'm hoping he will start acting like a rooster soon. Would getting rid of dad possibly fix this problem too?

I would say yes, getting rid of Dad would probably cause junior to step up. I wouldn’t breed him or put him with your hens until he’s older. Your hens are not going to appreciate a clumsy randy young teenager trying awkwardly to romance them.
He has to earn it. Some hens never accept a rooster no matter his style.
Even if he’s not human aggressive he still may not turn out to be very good with the hens.
I had a young Australorp cockerel who was gorgeous and not human aggressive.
He didn’t seem very good with the hens but wasn’t that bad either. I thought I would give him time to mature and maybe he would do better.
But at 1.5 years he was still doing the “snatch and grab” (sneaking up behind a hen and jumping on her). So I got rid of him and my hens were happier.
We have a bantam rooster now.

 

[FolkSonginC]

Is it all the hens or just one or two?

I'm actually not sure, I'm going to start looking to see if it's one or two specifically. A minute ago I saw one of the hens crouch down for him, so it's not all of them.

I wouldn’t breed him or put him with your hens until he’s older.

Right now he is in with my bantams, should I just keep him there until he is much older? They could be his practice hens, lol. Should I wait until a certain age or until he just seems mature enough?

 

[CannedMonster]

I'm actually not sure, I'm going to start looking to see if it's one or two specifically. A minute ago I saw one of the hens crouch down for him, so it's not all of them.

Right now he is in with my bantams, should I just keep him there until he is much older? They could be his practice hens, lol. Should I wait until a certain age or until he just seems mature enough?

You could keep him there for a while. Keep in mind that as he fills out he will be squishing them when he breeds them.
Watch how he is with them. If he seems too rough you can separate him and let him mature before you try him with the standard hens.
Or put him with them after you get rid of dad and see how it goes.
Ridgerunner gave great advice.
Some hens will accept him right away and others it may take quite some time. I’d wait until he’s at least 9 months to a year.
He’s going to have to dominate the hens at first. Don’t let it make you give up. As long as he’s not savaging them or something it’s something the flock goes through until they get used to him and settle down.

 

[The Happster]

I know it's none of my business, but I would beg you not to have him killed. He might settle down. Just try him for a bit longer.