Will young rooster ever accept (former)head hen?

[annarborchicks]

Hello chicken folks! I’ve been waiting and hoping for this problem to resolve...but it sadly has not.

Thought I would check with the experts!

I have a small backyard flock for 3 years now. Last year I had 3 hens (BO, BR, and a silkie). BO is in charge and everyone got along. Silkie went broody and hatched a single donated fertile egg.
That chick is now a 12 month old partridge silkie. At 6 months old he began to crow and mate his mother. BO and BR wouldn’t allow him to get close to them. Neither of them had ever been mated and refused to squat for him. They were never mean to him, but made it clear his advances were not welcome.
Thankfully, he is not human aggressive and does NOT overmate the silkie hen.
(Side note: BR hen passed several months ago due to chronic
internal laying.)
A few weeks ago when the rooster turned 1 he decided to challenge head hen. At first she fought back. Mostly feathers were pulled and each had a few drops of blood on comb. After a day or two of this she started to run from him and he clearly was the winner, but she never squatted for him. She was so afraid of him I decided to separate him for 1 week and reintroduce. Two days ago I put them together again. Coop is 5x8 ft and run is 10x15 ft....lots of places to jump up/hide/get away from each other. He continuously attacks her, pulling feathers, pouncing but not actually mating, pecking. Once she crouched in a corner and hid her face. Instead of mating her (which he easily could have attempted) he kept pecking her body all over until I intervened.
Yesterday evening I noticed the poor girl had a crack in her beak...probably damaged it running away him. Repaired the beak (thank you chicken chick) and have the girls together and rooster in second coop. It’s like he thinks the BO is a rival rooster and he wants her gone.
I have 5 day old chicks on order for next month.
Sorry for long post!
QUESTION: Will this silkie rooster ever accept this former head hen?
I have 6 kids attached to this otherwise good rooster, but GOLDIE is our priority and I will rehome rooster if necessary.

Thank you for reading my post. I truly value this website and look forward to hearing the verdict!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

: Will this silkie rooster ever accept this former head hen?

Hard to say for sure... doesn't sound like he will ever be nice to her since she refused to mate. He knows she isn't a rooster but may not allow a hen to stay that won't let him spread his seed. NONE of my large fowl hens will allow a bantam that wasn't raised with them and the same age to mount them. Only those who were raised together and boy hormones kick in first to keep the gals in line. Otherwise it's like they're sitting on the side lines pointing and laughing at that short dude with little man syndrome.

I wonder if pinless peepers or a stag tie out are an option so the hen that wants can approach but the other is still safe?

Or maybe a look but don't touch set up for a while before full reintroduction. Was his separation in or out of sight of the ladies?

I keep a stag pen, so my hens don't have to deal with unwanted advances (one reason). Maybe that is an option for you?

I would re-home as hens (mostly) come first here. I have re-homed hens who had personal vendettas for whatever reason towards another. I'm sure the 6 kids don't like to see the abuse and it';s stressful even for the one not involved. Sounds like he is frustrated. Since the hen is so scared of him now, I doubt it will ever become a normal relationship with them. But at 1 year old he is STILL maturing and hormones go through several kick in phases, sometimes enhanced by season... My stag pen is primarily to allow them to mature and gain some manners before they have access to the ladies. Silkies, ehh.. my personal least favorite roosters.

The question you ask, I think is a complicated one. I'll tag a few peeps who may have better input or different experience than me... @sourland @Ridgerunner @oldhenlikesdogs @Folly's place @azygous @aart, I know y'all are busy but TIA for any input offered!

 

[Folly's place]

I've never tried the pinless peepers, but maybe?
This situation isn't 'normal', as I see it, and I'd wonder if this rooster will work out at all with your older hen. Is it possible that she has a health issue? It's really hard to tell, often, because the birds try to act fine as long as possible.
If she's ill, it's a reason for this bad behavior. If she's healthy, she won't be having to live with this bully!
I'd move him out, either elsewhere out of site on your property, or to another home, with full disclosure. I expect roosters to court and care for the hens, not beat them up.
Mary

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Since he's still immature. I would keep him penned separately for a few month. As hormones start to wane in the next few months he may be better behaved after being released.

I would pen him where he can interact through the fence. He will have to practice his sweet talking skills in order for the hens to come near him. Many a young foolish has turned around for me doing this. If he still acts bad after a few months of being separated than he may never accept the hen. Some bantam roosters only seem to want a hen or two, and the rest are a nuisance.

Time will tell what your boy is thinking.

 

[azygous]

This is a complicated issue that involves more than the urge to mate and the urge to dominate. Chickens have individual temperaments and they suffer from psychological issues much like people do.

I am not able to reassure you that all will be well once the cockerel becomes mature and seasoned. There are hens that absolutely refuse to be mated and they will fight to the death to resist. I have such a hen at present and have had them in the past.

This present hen has just finished recovering from a very serious scalping incurred during her attempts to resist mating by my junior rooster. At the risk of anthropomorphizing, it's almost as if he's making her pay for rejecting him. She's in a safe pen apart from him but he can interact with her through the fence. He gets into some very excitable antics, and it doesn't appear he's trying to "woo" her.

I'm under no illusions that I can ever trust him with her again, and I take precautions to be sure they don't free range at the same time. A rooster that is insistent on mating a hen who is equally insistent on resisting at all costs should not be allowed together. Great injury and even death has been known to result.

I have a complex run and coop setup that allows for easily segregating any problem individuals. So this makes it possible for me to keep both my roosters while taking measures to keep any hen safe from them when necessary. If you can figure out how to juggle your flock so the hen will be safe, you may not need to get rid of little Romeo.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I had a somewhat similar situation a few years back but a few more hens were involved. Some difference too. All chickens were full sized fowl, no bantams, and no dominant rooster. The cockerel grew up with the flock. I had a late maturing (11 months) cockerel finally mature to the point that he was willing to stand up to the dominant hen. Until then she'd knock him off if he tried to mate with a different hen. When he finally stopped running away from her they fought and he won. For two days he would attack her just out of the blue. It was not an attempt to mate as much as trying to peck her, especially around the head. After two days the fighting stopped and they became best of buddies.

A couple of times I've had one chicken develop an intense dislike of a different chicken. One time it was 15 week old cockerels. One killed another. Another time it was 2 week old siblings. I separated them for a while and the behavior changed. That's the only situations I can think of that were even close to yours.

You gave them a couple of days and she submitted. That did not stop him. You can try separating again, I have altered behaviors doing that. It might work, especially if the problem is that he still hasn't sufficiently matured for her to really accept him as the flock master.

I don't know what the right answer for you is. I understand how you got him and that your kids are attached. That males it hard. But I try to decide these things for the benefit of the flock as a whole, not an individual chicken. You are not there though, you know which one you favor. You can try again, it might work, but chickens can die from this. I'd quit trying before too long.

 

[Shadrach]

I can't see this working out.
Hens choose their roosters and when a young cockerel is forced on them, especially if they are confined then things tend to go wrong.
Your senior hens are quite rightly not interested in mating with some unproven cockerel who isn't even the same breed as them.
The chicks you've ordered are going to make matters worse when you try to introduce them into the main flock I believe.
I adore my roosters. I've got 5 atm but if your hens won't crouch for him then he's a non starter.
There should never be that level of violence.
You could segregate the rooster until the chicks become pullets (hopefully) and let the rooster live with the new arrivals.

 

[annarborchicks]

Good morning fellow chicken keepers!

First of all, a big thank you to the Eggsighted4life, Folly’s Place, Oldhenlikesdogs, Ridgerunner, Azygous,
and Shadrach for a taking the time to write such thoughtful responses. You all are BackyardChickens superstars and I’m honored to receive your help.

Bottom line, sounds like this likely won’t work out. However, since I have the smaller secure coop and a month before chicks arrive, I’ll give Romeo one more chance to redeem himself before culling. (don’t really want to keep him for later and manage two separate flocks...built the new coop/run to house one big happy flock and will use small coop to raise new birds plus assist with integration this fall)

As you can see from photo, old coop is across the yard from new coop/run. He can hear the girls, but not see them much. Plan is to let him free range during day for the next month. He can be near girls plenty, but not touch.
Will reassess next month and remove him if relations don’t improve.

I’ll send an update once it all plays out.

Thanks again for your help. I’ve learned so much in the last 3 years from reading your various posts. Most recently enjoyed Shadrach’s insightful “understanding your rooster” piece.