Will my young rooster become less aggressive towards the hens?

[cafarmgirl]

I don't know, I draw a fine line with roosters. I've never had one chase hens away from their food. My last rooster, even when he was young, dumb and inexperienced, always treated his hens very well. When I got 8 new youngsters and integrated them at 12 weeks old he took them right under his wing. He didn't try to mate with them yet and he certainly didn't chase them off of food just because they were new, young and not laying yet. So I guess if it were my bird...I'd be watching him closely and if he doesn't let up or if he gets worse I'd pull him out for a while and let the young hens have a break from the stress for a bit.

 

[ochochicas]

What happened to Patch? It has been a couple of months. Did you have to separate him? Did he get better?

 

[Lamanite Jim]

At one time I ended up with 6 roosters. All four of the RIRs were roosters. I either traded them for turkeys or gave them away. The multi-bred rooster still roams the orchard. I keep him separated from the flock. Patch is an incredible story. He is a total gentleman. He will find bugs for the hens, he will tear off pieces of lettuce for them AND, with his 2 inch spurs he will chase off any rooster nearly twice his size. He will walk up to me while I am working and he watches as if inspecting my work. He will come when I call his name...if I have treats. He sounds a gathering call to the hens if he thinks they are too far away...and yes they will come. He is incredible. What a success story.

 

[GhettoRoo]

At one time I ended up with 6 roosters. All four of the RIRs were roosters. I either traded them for turkeys or gave them away. The multi-bred rooster still roams the orchard. I keep him separated from the flock. Patch is an incredible story. He is a total gentleman. He will find bugs for the hens, he will tear off pieces of lettuce for them AND, with his 2 inch spurs he will chase off any rooster nearly twice his size. He will walk up to me while I am working and he watches as if inspecting my work. He will come when I call his name...if I have treats. He sounds a gathering call to the hens if he thinks they are too far away...and yes they will come. He is incredible. What a success story.

Photo in the studio.

 

[rainbowhatchery]

Ahhhh teenage boys lol, dont worry about it, hens can take care of themselves pretty well.

 

[PaisyQ]

At one time I ended up with 6 roosters. All four of the RIRs were roosters. I either traded them for turkeys or gave them away. The multi-bred rooster still roams the orchard. I keep Himalayas separated from the flock. Patch is an incredible story. He is a total gentleman. He will find bugs for the hens, he will tear off pieces of lettuce for them AND, with his 2 inch spurs he will chase off any rooster nearly twice his size. He will walk up to me while I am working and he watches as if inspecting my work. He will come when I call his name...if I have treats. He sounds a gathering call to the hens if he thinks they are too far away...and yes they will come. He is incredible. What a success story.

Can I ask what you did with Patch while you were waiting fr himto settle down? I am in a similar situation with a group of 18 week olds. I have 6 birds inthis group; 4 pullets and 2 cockerels. The boy I want to keep has started to harrass the girls, to the point that they won't come out ofthe coop. His hormones are definitely kickingin, theirs are not. He doesn't botherthe other cockerel, and he respects me, and the older flock that they free range with. The 2nd cockerel will be going to freezer camp in a couple weeks. Did you seperate Patch at all? Or didyoujust leave him in?

 

[junebuggena]

Can I ask what you did with Patch while you were waiting fr himto settle down? I am in a similar situation with a group of 18 week olds. I have 6 birds inthis group; 4 pullets and 2 cockerels. The boy I want to keep has started to harrass the girls, to the point that they won't come out ofthe coop. His hormones are definitely kickingin, theirs are not. He doesn't botherthe other cockerel, and he respects me, and the older flock that they free range with. The 2nd cockerel will be going to freezer camp in a couple weeks. Did you seperate Patch at all? Or didyoujust leave him in?

2 cockerels for 4 hens is 2 cockerels too many. The pullets will be constantly stressed with both boys chasing after them. One full of himself cockerel isn't too big a deal when there are 8 or more pullets to keep him occupied. But only having 4 girls, with 2 cockerels is not a good situation at all. If you want to keep one or both boys, you will need to get several more girls. The general guideline for a young rooster is 10 hens for one rooster.

 

[PaisyQ]

2 cockerels for 4 hens is 2 cockerels too many. The pullets will be constantly stressed with both boys chasing after them. One full of himself cockerel isn't too big a deal when there are 8 or more pullets to keep him occupied. But only having 4 girls, with 2 cockerels is not a good situation at all. If you want to keep one or both boys, you will need to get several more girls. The general guideline for a young rooster is 10 hens for one rooster. 

I have 7 more girls to jointhis group; they're 5 weeks old though, so they need to grow up a little 1st. And I willbe getting rid of oneof the boys, but I have to wait until my proccessor is ready ro butcher. I justneed to know what todowith the guy I want to keep in the mean time, or, for that matter, if I should keep him at all, since he's theone causing allthe trouble right now.

 

[junebuggena]

He might settle down and be a bit more gentle once the other male is gone.

 

[ochochicas]

I'd say you need to separate the boys from the girls until they are older and more mature. Even if you have to get/build a small chicken tractor everyone will be better off. The cockerels are going to terrorize the younger pullets when you introduce them to the coop. I absolutely love having a rooster, but the definitely go through a stage where they are more of a nuisance than anything (until they are 6 or 7 months old). I have one rooster and more than 20 hens. Many of the hens are still missing feathers and have their back roughed up from the rooster. He is mostly a sweetheart, but we'll probably have to replace him if he can't learn to not be rough with the girls.