Why did my roo do this?

[Hunnied]

Greetings! I am new to having chickens, and my 4 are now 19wks old. I have 3 pullets and a cockerel (I ordered 4 pullets, but so it goes. I love my cockerel and glad I got him rather than any other chicken).
I’ve a pullet whom I am trying to ease into allowing me to hold her without fear. Today when I had her on my lap for a spell she was squawking about it, as per usual. My cockerel seemed more concerned about this than usual (he is rarely concerned at all when I hold her). He stayed very close to us, and then pecked her on her neck as I was holding her...aggressively for him, but he’s not especially aggressive, so I honestly have a poor frame of reference for what is and is not chicken bullying. Any ideas why he did this?
While I am here asking, he also makes a kinda growling/purring sound when I’m giving them treats or hanging out with him. It’s hard to explain the sound. I’ve googled it ad nauseam, but haven’t found any answers or descriptions of roosters making a similar sound. Any ideas on that, as well?

 

[BjaJra826]

Chickens are oportunistic omnivores, meaning the eat meat when they can and are prone to canabalism. There is a chance he heard her distress and decided to test her weakness. I have no ideas on the sound though, but I know chickens have a wide range of vocal and non-vocal sounds.

 

[IamRainey]

Do you think he could be starting to feel protective? That's his job after all...

 

[BjaJra826]

Possibly, but it also could have been curiosity. Chickens investigate the world like sharks, with their mouths lol. My buff orphington is my worst oral offender as she pecks at anything and everything that catches her eye.

 

[Hunnied]

He used to peck the girls like that in a very similar way if he thought they hurt me while I was hand feeding them treats. Id try not to react if they accidentally pecked my hand too hard, but sometimes I’d startle or jump despite my best intentions. When I did that, he’d give them a little peck, which I thought (hoped) meant he was protective of me. That no longer happens. I would imagine if he were being protective of Dot (the pullet I was holding), he’d peck me rather than her?

 

[Hunnied]

Do you think he could be starting to feel protective? That's his job after all...

I pondered this, but figured he’d peck me if he were protective of her? Then I wondered if it was a mating thing? I’ve yet to witness mating, being new to this and all, but the rooster will peck a hen’s head and neck when they want to mate, right? So maybe he was trying to say that she’s his mate, not mine?

 

[DobieLover]

I pondered this, but figured he’d peck me if he were protective of her? Then I wondered if it was a mating thing? I’ve yet to witness mating, being new to this and all, but the rooster will peck a hen’s head and neck when they want to mate, right? So maybe he was trying to say that she’s his mate, not mine?

I've seen my rooster peck the head of an unwilling pullet being mated by the cockerel. I think it may be a "you're mine, not his, don't allow this" peck. The rooster would sometimes peck the cockerel too or just come flying at him and knock him off the pullet.
Has your cockerel started the tid bitting calls? If you can record his vocalizations on video and upload it to YouTube you can post a link here.
19 weeks is about the time all the hormonal crazy "jump every pullet I can" behavior starts and there is going to be a lot of screaming and head feather pulling as he attempts to dominate them all.

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

If it’s a soft purr/trill noise it’s a sound of content that I know of. I hear it a lot at night or when I’m cuddling with my favourite pullets and they are relaxed.

There’s a few of my higher ranking pullets in the flock that will come over and peck the other pullets I’m holding. I’m not sure why they do this either, it’s generally the pullet that loves being held that does it too in my case. I had thought it was a ranking thing or them trying to get the other girls to stop causing a ruckus. Never had my cockerels do it though, only the pullets.

 

[aart]

Hard to say for sure where this will go....but carry on as you are and remain calm and confident, do not overreact.
It's a key time in 'cockerel' raising for them to learn that you mean no harm to the birds.
Use your 'calming voice', they can really learn to respond positively to it.

 

[glassdragonfly]

I used to have a large parrot that would peck me if he saw what he thought I was in danger. I found out that they will peck their flock mates to get them to run,then deal with the danger. Maybe he thought she was in danger and tried to get her to run away? I don't know if chickens do this or not.