Young Roo - is this "normal", or is he being mean?

[ShockValue]

8 week old Wyandotte rooster. 5x 8 week old pullets (Sussex and Faverolle)

He's been doing this for the last few days. Goes on a rampage for a few minutes of just bouncing between hens, jumping on them, or giving them a peck, or a chest bump. Typically going after the outliers of the group.

He doesn't love to be picked up, but he's not aggressive with humans.

We're feverishly working on the coop (about 2 days and they're outside!) but for now they're still locked in their brooder for much of the day. It's large, but with the size of these chickens they're starting to get cramped. Could this confinement / boredom be causing this?

Or is this normal? Is he just establishing dominance and then will back off?


If there's something I should be doing to nip aggressive behavior in the bud, I'm happy to get to work on it.
We live in a no-tolerance household when it comes to mean animals. I leave my wife and 2 young children at home for a few days at a time and I can't be having them scared to go to the coop. I also don't want tormented hens.

We're working for ZEN!

 

[ImpulsiveFarmer]

Looks like relatively normal behavior to me. If he starts pecking at them to the point of injury or being aggressive towards people then I would worry. If you are worried they might be board you can throw a head of cabbage or lettuce in with them to give them something to peck at. Just make sure they also have grit available.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

That young man doesn't even know that he's a rooster yet. This is normal behavior even if he seems a little unsure of himself. Also boredom may be playing a part.