Which Rooster to Sell?

[pennyJo1960]

It's hard to know how many will become roosters, huh? Great job taking care of your flock!

It is a old game to me grew up on a farm then did not have them again till I was forced to retire wanted a reson to get up in the morning

 

[DobieLover]

Great rules above! Yes, that all sounds ideal and is what we were hoping for, so it concerns us that the dominant roo hurts his ladies. . I think if we separate him out for a time maybe we can better see how the other roos operate.

Blessings, and thanks for the response!
Megan

When you say he hurts them, how is that? They are all still pullets, correct?
The screaming and feather pulling is because they are not quite ready for his attentions. He, on the other, can't wait anymore so he forces them to submit. It's not the same thing as him being aggressive. This is still stressing out the girls so isolating all the boys from the pullets will help. It will give the girls a break and a chance to mature. Once they start laying, they are more receptive to accepting him.
Young cockerels can be idiots when trying to court pullets. They will drop the wing and circle the object of their affection then jump her even if she doesn't submit.

 

[Ridgerunner]

They are all about 4 months old.

There is a world of difference in immature cockerels and mature roosters' behaviors, that's a big part of what makes this so difficult at 4 months. The cockerel's hormones are telling him "Dominate! Dominate! Dominate!" He does that by mating with them or just bullying them. The pullets are not mature enough to know what is going on but they know they don't want to be dominated so they resist. What you are describing is pretty typical behavior between immature cockerels and pullets. What normally happens is that when the cockerel matures into a rooster and the pullets mature into hens you get a really peaceful flock. But getting to that point can be hard to watch. I don't consider that aggressive, I consider it a phase they are going through. Not all cockerels or pullets mature into good roosters and hens but most do, as far as behaviors between each other. But sometimes you get a rooster or hen that is just a jerk.

Sometimes when you have two or more cockerels they fight each other, usually not a lot but sometimes a lot. When one establishes his dominance the others may take a submissive role. The dominant "flock leader" has certain rights, privileges, and responsibilities. The submissive ones have those behaviors squashed, the dominant one often won't tolerate them assuming any privileges. Sometimes all the cockerels will try mating the pullets, sometimes that is the privilege of the dominant one. I'm not sure if your two have become submissive or if they are just late maturing and the hormones haven't really hit yet.

I don't have any foolproof suggestions for you, sometimes I get it wrong. Typically the pullets mature enough to act like hens when they start to lay. With cockerels it's harder. I had a cockerel mature enough at 5 months, though that is rare. I had one wait until he was 11 months to mature enough. Mine typically flip that switch and gain control of their hormones at 7 to 8 months, but it can really vary by cockerel.

What I want to see is that the male dances for the girl he is interested in and she squats. I'm OK with her initially running away and him chasing, as long as she squats when caught without him getting very physical. She's not really resisting him, just wanted to see if he was really interested. This is when they mature, not still immature cockerels and pullets. But if you do see this with cockerels and pullets, it is good. It shows they are growing up.

The head grab is an essential part of mating. The male grabs the back of her head. That is the signal for her to raise her tail up out of the way so he can hit the target. That's not him being mean and brutal, it's essential. Immature cockerels sometimes have really bad technique with this, as they mature they typically do much better. If the back of the head becomes bare there is a risk he could cut her skin when he grabs back there. So pay attention to that.

This is when mating. If he is grabbing her head or back a other times, he is bullying. As long as no one is getting hurt I'm OK with this, it's part of them growing up. But if you see blood or bald spots you need to intervene.

 

[trudyg]

I just sent 2 cockerels to freezer camp because of this. I have an older rooster who is great with the girls. I toyed with the idea of butchering him and letting a younger one do the job. I changed my mind when I saw one standing on a hen for several minutes to keep her away from the other. She was quiet or the roo would have flogged him. Most of the time a cockerel would hop on a hen, she'd squawk and roo would come running--just in time to let the other hop on another hen. These are hens, not pullets. Chaos. So, we now have peace.

 

[pennyJo1960]

This has been covered if you read the thread not trying to be mean here