Tankueray
Bird Nerd
When my oldest rooster started to mature and was being an ass to the hens, he got a time out in a large dog crate in the yard for a week. I fed treats once a day so that the hens could put their heads through the bars and get them, and it didn't take him long at all to stop being selfish and start clucking for them to take them. The younger ones didn't really have that problem because the older hens and rooster kept them in line, but the second oldest is the younger brother of the head roo, and I feel like he lets him get away with more than the others sometimes.
He will still occasionally mount a hen just as she's caught a bug, which is rude and weird, but he's a very good rooster to the whole flock now, not super awesome like some breeds, but I'm also not afraid of him killing me in my sleep either. His little brother did a "test attack" on me a while back (didn't see what happened, but it was him running into the back of my leg at full force, although he acted like it was nothing) and big brother circled around between me and him in an unusual move. I'm not sure who he thought he was protecting from who. No trouble from little brother at all since. In fact, after those first two took up the top spots, none of the other roosters have ever been a problem. (Although I do believe subsequent roosters are maturing slower because of them, it's a very interesting dynamic. Not unusual in nature, but fascinating to watch in person.)
For those that are curious, right now the count is 5 roosters, 17 hens, lots of chicks; they don't fight anymore than the hens do. Two of the lower roosters are twice the size of the top two. Top dog sleeps in the tree with 4 of his hens, the rest in the coop, highest ranked hens farthest away from second ranked rooster, and they will peck him off the roost if he tries to get too close, but they all breed with the top two roosters regularly. The others are largely ignored by everyone.
He will still occasionally mount a hen just as she's caught a bug, which is rude and weird, but he's a very good rooster to the whole flock now, not super awesome like some breeds, but I'm also not afraid of him killing me in my sleep either. His little brother did a "test attack" on me a while back (didn't see what happened, but it was him running into the back of my leg at full force, although he acted like it was nothing) and big brother circled around between me and him in an unusual move. I'm not sure who he thought he was protecting from who. No trouble from little brother at all since. In fact, after those first two took up the top spots, none of the other roosters have ever been a problem. (Although I do believe subsequent roosters are maturing slower because of them, it's a very interesting dynamic. Not unusual in nature, but fascinating to watch in person.)
For those that are curious, right now the count is 5 roosters, 17 hens, lots of chicks; they don't fight anymore than the hens do. Two of the lower roosters are twice the size of the top two. Top dog sleeps in the tree with 4 of his hens, the rest in the coop, highest ranked hens farthest away from second ranked rooster, and they will peck him off the roost if he tries to get too close, but they all breed with the top two roosters regularly. The others are largely ignored by everyone.
