Why do the roosters only go after 1 hen?

[meags163]

I have 3 RIR roosters (not by choice), 1 RIR hen and 1 leghorn hen. The leghorn is the oldest and my only layer so you can guess why she is my favorite. I have only seen 1 rooster mate with only her, and he grabs onto her comb when he's doing it so it has all these little cuts on it. (Of course I knock him off when he does it in front of me). This morning I found her with a pretty big gash right behind the comb like she was pecked real hard. Why don't the roosters go after the other hen? She is almost 6 months old and still not laying so I'm thinking she feels too threatened to lay or she is just never going to lay, and that's why the rooster don't try to get on her. I know the roosters have to go....I feel bad that my 1 good hen is taking all the brunt of this and the roosters are getting more aggressive because they think there is only 1 lady for them.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

I'm thinking that one desirable lady is going to be one dead lady if you don't change the flock somehow...

 

[meags163]

I agree.... the roosters will all be meeting their doom this weekend. For now I'm trying to keep the 2 hens away from them. I'm just wondering if the fact that the roosters aren't interested in the RIR hen is because she is not a laying hen....I think I read that roosters begin mating a hen when she is about to lay so maybe she isn't sending those "signals"

 

[Wynette]

Lots of folks say roosters don't begin to breed pullets until they have begun to lay or are just about to start, but that's not been the case at my farm.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Quote:
I agree, I've read plenty on BYC that would suggest that roos just go for any adult looking hen, regardless of their sexual maturity.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I agree. It was a free for all around here when my two cockerels hit 10 weeks old and tried to mate anything that moved - pullets, the dog, a log.

Obviously my pullets weren't anywhere near ready to start laying at 10 weeks.
My roo has a favorite girl for mating. She wears a saddle. Interestingly, she is only his favorite girl for that. Lil'Bit is his sidekick and he babies her, but rarely mates her.

 

[Mahlzeit]

That one hen must be the hottest one of the bunch. Haha

 

[patandchickens]

I kind of do get the impression that some hens are just, uh, 'hotties', compared to others.

But there is also a competetive element to it, seems like -- when you have 2 roos together, if A sees B hoppin' onto a hen, immediately she becomes his own heart's desire and HE just has to mate her too. And vice versa. So if one of them is the dominant roo and has a favorite girl, she gets an awful lot of 'service'.

With 3 roos and only 2 hens, you pretty much know it's not a long-term tenable situation, though, right?...

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[bigoakhunter]

I agree with meags163...my five roosters are going tomorrow. They have caused too much chaos!!!