Why in the world did my rooster mate the other rooster when he has 30 hens?!

[Blueeyez]

So, I knew this day would come but things didn't go anything like I'd imagined..... I watched my 4 month old cochin rooster for the first time (that i've witnessed) chasing all the hens grabbing any he could, clearly with the intention of mating although the hens weren't interested and managed to get away. He chased one hen on top of the 8ft tall coop, one over the 8ft fence and then he managed to grab another rooster and hopped on! At first I thought surely it was a dominance thing, but he went at it for several minutes and it REALLY seemed like he was actually mating him! I couldn't just watch anymore, so I broke them up and the chasing and mating drama that had been going on for the previous 20 minutes came to a complete halt and everyone went back to doing there normal thing...... Has anyone else ever had this happen? Why would he do that to the other rooster with SO MANY hens available? Was it just a mistake of raging hormones and that rooster just bring the unlucky one to run to slow? Lol

 

[Ridgerunner]

It was a dominance thing, not a sex thing. And yes, they go through the full mating act, even touching vents. I've seen that more with an all-hen flock where the head hen did that to another hen than between males but it does happen. And yes, mostly hormones out of control. But hormones for dominance, not fertile eggs.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

He is young and just started mating,it should stop soon I suggest separating him till he is eight or nine months old

 

[varidgerunner]

Uh Oh. This could be next.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Lol

 

[rebrascora]

How many cockerels do you have in the flock. It can really stress them having several of those adolescent males with raging hormones chasing them down all the time especially if there is not a mature rooster to keep them in check, and stress can lead to outbreaks of disease. Better to separate the adolescent boys from the flock and butcher of put them in a bachelor pad than stress your egg layers. Whilst I think there is a dominance element, I think there is also an urge to have sex just like dogs mate inanimate objects or peoples legs etc.
I would doubt his behaviour will curtail significantly before autumn and if you have other young males it can become very aggressive and competitive if they manage to catch a hen or pullet. Managing a flock is sometimes about making tough decisions for the benefit of the flock as a whole and too many young males is something that needs dealing with. Even one can be too many sometimes.

 

[kwhites634]

So, I knew this day would come but things didn't go anything like I'd imagined..... I watched my 4 month old cochin rooster for the first time (that i've witnessed) chasing all the hens grabbing any he could, clearly with the intention of mating although the hens weren't interested and managed to get away. He chased one hen on top of the 8ft tall coop, one over the 8ft fence and then he managed to grab another rooster and hopped on! At first I thought surely it was a dominance thing, but he went at it for several minutes and it REALLY seemed like he was actually mating him! I couldn't just watch anymore, so I broke them up and the chasing and mating drama that had been going on for the previous 20 minutes came to a complete halt and everyone went back to doing there normal thing...... Has anyone else ever had this happen? Why would he do that to the other rooster with SO MANY hens available? Was it just a mistake of raging hormones and that rooster just bring the unlucky one to run to slow? Lol

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