Young cockerel question with behaviors

[Rose the Legbar]

I have a cockerel who is around 4 months old. He is deathly afraid of me and hates being near me and is otherwise pretty good and not human aggressive. However he isn’t the nicest to my hens or pullets. He will steal food sometimes just taking it from their beak or even pecking at the top of my hen’s heads to get them to drop the snack (he then runs off with it and downs it). He has gotten mad at one of my older hens getting to the treat before him and has tried to flog her (my hen won and he ran away screaming). I have seen him try to keep away a pullet from food before as well (pecking her head hard). There is a hen that doesn’t like him and will go after him then back away, but instead of letting her go, my cockerel continues to chase after her before stopping. I currently have him out of my flock and it is much more calm without him starting a ton of fights and pecking everyone.

That was some backstory to what he has been doing, and here is my question: Is it him just being a stupid teenager and will it get better and/or should I remove him from my flock permanently.
I enjoy having a cockerel around but if he is bad to the hens or me and wont get better, I don’t want to keep him around.

 

[The Coop Crew]

His hormones are probably really raging right now so you could try to separate him and see how he does.

 

[ChicNmom]

I've never had one so nasty at that age. He might calm down but I kind of doubt it unless some older bird teaches him some manners.

 

[The Coop Crew]

I've never had one so nasty at that age. He might calm down but I kind of doubt it unless some older bird teaches him some manners.

It sounds like the hens are doing a good job of putting him in his place so far
We don’t have any roosters so I can’t speak from experience. Just what I’ve read on here

 

[Mrs. K]

I don’t think he is working out, and would cull him. He is causing a lot of tension in the flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is it him just being a stupid teenager and will it get better and/or should I remove him from my flock permanently.
I enjoy having a cockerel around but if he is bad to the hens or me and wont get better, I don’t want to keep him around.

He is a 4-month-old immature cockerel with hormones running wild. The hormones are in control. Puberty can be rough.

Will he grow out of it? Most of them do but most is not all. I don't know how he will be when he matures.

Why do you want a male? What are your goals in regard to having one? Only you can answer that. If your goals do not include having a rooster, I'd suggest the cleanest thing to do is to cut the thread and move on.

If you decide you want a rooster, you can keep him isolated from the flock until he matures. That might be another month, I had one that took over the flock as flock master at 5 months but the hens had a lot to do with that. The hens were willing to accept him. Not all of them are when he is five months old. Most of my cockerels can take over at seven months of age but I had one that could not until he was practically a year old, and that involved a violent fight with the head hen. Each boy has his own personality and so does each girl. The hens have a lot to say about how peaceful the transition is. Sometimes it is never peaceful no matter how old they get.

You could let him run with the flock as long as no one is being injured. Often this looks a lot worse than it is. But you do have to watch. The potential of injury to him or one of the others is real. You may need to act quickly.

You could get rid of him and try a different boy. If you get another immature cockerel you are likely to see many of the same behaviors. Sometimes that works out great. Sometimes it is the boy that gets beaten up and bloodied but some people are OK with that as long as it is not the girls getting beaten up. I raise my cockerels with the flock but I have a mature rooster to help keep the flock peaceful and I have enough room that they can easily avoid each other if they want to. If they can't stay far apart it can get violent.

You can find a mature rooster, say about one year old. By then most have matured to the point they can WOW! the hens with their magnificence. Introducing a mature rooster to an all-hen flock is usually about the easiest kind of integration. He mates one or two and the flock is his. Introducing an immature cockerel can be a problem. But occasionally you can get a dominant hen that will not accept any rooster as flock master. That can get violent.

I don't know what your goals are or how committed you are to this specific cockerel. It has to be your decision. Good luck!

 

[Rose the Legbar]

He is a 4-month-old immature cockerel with hormones running wild. The hormones are in control. Puberty can be rough.

Will he grow out of it? Most of them do but most is not all. I don't know how he will be when he matures.

Why do you want a male? What are your goals in regard to having one? Only you can answer that. If your goals do not include having a rooster, I'd suggest the cleanest thing to do is to cut the thread and move on.

If you decide you want a rooster, you can keep him isolated from the flock until he matures. That might be another month, I had one that took over the flock as flock master at 5 months but the hens had a lot to do with that. The hens were willing to accept him. Not all of them are when he is five months old. Most of my cockerels can take over at seven months of age but I had one that could not until he was practically a year old, and that involved a violent fight with the head hen. Each boy has his own personality and so does each girl. The hens have a lot to say about how peaceful the transition is. Sometimes it is never peaceful no matter how old they get.

You could let him run with the flock as long as no one is being injured. Often this looks a lot worse than it is. But you do have to watch. The potential of injury to him or one of the others is real. You may need to act quickly.

You could get rid of him and try a different boy. If you get another immature cockerel you are likely to see many of the same behaviors. Sometimes that works out great. Sometimes it is the boy that gets beaten up and bloodied but some people are OK with that as long as it is not the girls getting beaten up. I raise my cockerels with the flock but I have a mature rooster to help keep the flock peaceful and I have enough room that they can easily avoid each other if they want to. If they can't stay far apart it can get violent.

You can find a mature rooster, say about one year old. By then most have matured to the point they can WOW! the hens with their magnificence. Introducing a mature rooster to an all-hen flock is usually about the easiest kind of integration. He mates one or two and the flock is his. Introducing an immature cockerel can be a problem. But occasionally you can get a dominant hen that will not accept any rooster as flock master. That can get violent.

I don't know what your goals are or how committed you are to this specific cockerel. It has to be your decision. Good luck!

Thank you for the thorough insight. I want a roo so I can possibly breed him later and have him somewhat keep some peace in the flock. I also just like having a rooster around with his crowing haha. He has settled down a bit more today and I haven’t heard or seen any new squabbles with him and my hens.
I am going to keep him at least until my local fair and if he gets worse by then, he is for sure going after fair.

 

[SourRoses]

I would not choose this cockerel.
In my experience, the selfish males past 3-4 months old tend to always remain socially non-viable. They think they can corner hens and pullets to force them to mate. There's no courtship. That to a hen is a non-starter. Getting food gifts is a big part of how she assesses a mate.
After all, in the wild, she needs the males help to gain enough calories and nutrients to lay a clutch and raise a brood.

As human keepers, we can force the issue and keep a dramatic flock together that wouldn't choose one another. Should we? I think not. Not only does it make the hens lives awful when he turns into a big bad rooster that can grab what he wants... but it doesn't do the future generations any favors by passing on bad genetics.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

Update on him, I still have him begrudgingly. I have been outside all day working on a run extension so I have been able to observe what he does. He tidbits at dirt and rocks in the run to get my hens or pullets over, then tries to mate with them. They run away from him if he tries to walk to them and wing dance. On numerous occasions he has jumped on the backs of my resting hens and forcefully mates them causing chaos. He also still steals food but doesnt go chasing after it if the snacks are stolen from him.

Truthfully I don’t like him in my flock but I have to keep him for 5 more weeks as he is already registered in a local fair. My mother (who also takes care of this flock with me and is part of the decision making) is saying, “Oh he is just a teenager and he should get over it!” and isn’t allowing me to separate him for those 5 weeks. I may just shove him in my old 4ft by 4ft brooder that he was brooded in despite my mothers wishes as I greatly dislike him in the flock causing disruption.