When a roo's ready, and the flock is'nt

[jafo]

G'Morning,
Our Roo Blue seems like he's getting pretty agressive with all the right moves if ya know what I mean,,,,He's about 9 lbs, and the girls are around 5 lbs. I know about animals, and what and how they do, but I need to know what the behavior of chickens are, when he / they are "ready" or not. He sides up to his target, clamps on thier neck and hops on dropping them to the ground,,,that normal? That it??? I see him do it yesterday and give him a boot,( I missed, and it was softly done, I don't abuse animals,or birds ) then chased him around a bit to let the hen get away. Can he tell like a deer when they're ready? Will he be a pest and persist if they are'nt? WE aren't expecting eggs from them 'til September? I hate to separate them, 'cause most of the time theyget along fine. He lets them take stuff right outa his mouth. If the "procedure" is a bit to "stuffy" pm's are fine.

 

[Zahboo]

Posts about animal mating is aokay. Our roo was ready before the girls. Usually the girls will put up a heck of a fight if not ready. The roo can be down right harmful until he gets used to breeding, pulling out neckfeathers, ect. It's just a stage. How old are they?

 

[jafo]

'Ol Blue was born in January, so we think he's ready, but the girls were born for the most part April.

 

[damselfish]

Our roos started to get interested at around 15 weeks, and there has been about a 4-6 week "fight or flight" period before all the girls (same age) are ready to be mated.

So you do have an age mismatch there...it should pass but he sounds awful heavy. How many girls do you have?

 

[HillsHalfAcre]

Our RIR roo is doing the same. He's about 16-18 weeks and so are our 5 RIR girls. He's ready & they ain't! It was suggested to us to do the beak clipping so he does not draw blood on any of the hens. That could mark them for much pecking abuse from the other 5. I often carry a fly swatter with me mostly to swat flies, but the roo moves away if I wave it around in his direction. He does not bother me because I'm 6'1"/220 lbs and can crow louder than he can!

I also carry a std sports/police whistle with me, as does everyone in our family as a safety device, and the roo runs at the sound of it. I do hope he grows out of his aggression soon, or he may be a roo roaster.

 

[Rocky Top Chick]

My roo was ready before the girls and it pretty much was a "grit my teeth" process. Eventually they cooperated, however, I have an EE who does not like the roo. She started laying and still does not want him to mount her. He has 15 others to select and he wants the one who resists. Isn't it always the case ( :

 

[frogs n chickens]

my roo was the same age as the ladies and came of age before they did. I came home in the evening to find his flavor of the day roosting up on the solar panels to escape his advances. I was considering freezer camp but things have calmed down a bit, and I do want to keep a roo. He now comes running when they are clucking to lay an egg or at any sign of distress. He also calls them when he finds a treat and stands by as they eat whatever the morsel was. I am glad I waited it out.

 

[jafo]

We have five girls. I thought of the deep freeze too, but my wife really loves him, and frankly, so do I. It's so funny6 to watch him run, head down wings flappin' and a run that's more like a fast waddle! He'll do the same, as in let the girls know if he's got a treat. If we go out with berries, and I call, he'll be the only one then he does a soft series of clucks as he's gobbling up blueberries, and they ALL come running. I'll wait and watch. But Is that the ritual, side up, a bite to the neck and hop to it?

 

[Judy]

That's the ritual. Takes maybe 5 seconds after hopping on. He's a good roo to do the clucking to get the hens to the treats. He should be a protective roo. I'd keep him, myself! And extra or bad roos go to the freezer around here.

Personally, I'd just check the girls for too much feather loss (a stray one or three will happen) or for cuts on their sides. Have to look a bit more carefully for the latter. And it's a good idea to "kick" him off when he starts mating right in front of you. (Painless kick, of course, it's the gesture that counts.) Keeps you in position as the head roo. If his spurs are getting really long and hard, you will want to twist them off with pliers. It's not nearly the awful procedure that it sounds. A bit of flour or corn starch, or a product from the feed store, will stop the bleeding.