Young Rooster Aggressive to Hens

[ParksPoultry]

Hey everybody,

One of my roosters (under 1 year) is rough with my hens. I have 31 hens and three total roosters. My head rooster is kind of a turd to people, but a phenomenal flock rooster. He’ll keep the younger ones in check if they get rough… but one is rough with the girls. He doesn’t ever come after people or my dog, but when he initiates mating he hardly mounts and ends up just biting the girls on the heads. Is there any hope for him growing out of that or should I get rid of him?

 

[sourland]

Well, he's still a cockerel - almost a rooster. It does take a while for most to perfect their mating skills. Is there any possibility he is rushing the act because of being interrupted by the other roosters? If not, I'd be tempted to remove him from the flock.

 

[ParksPoultry]

Well, he's still a cockerel - almost a rooster. It does take a while for most to perfect their mating skills. Is there any possibility he is rushing the act because of being interrupted by the other roosters? If not, I'd be tempted to remove him from the flock.

Right, he’s a bit younger than his brother but not much. The others don’t rush him when he tries. I was hoping he’d grow out of it but I don’t remember any of my other roos acting quite like that. He doesn’t ever fight or spur others in the flock; my flock gets along pretty well… but I also don’t want my girls getting harassed.

 

[Mrs. K]

You know, he really isn’t working out for you. Let him go.

Keep an eye when you cook on your fertilization rate, if it dips, and you want to hatch, separate your better hens and the rooster you want. Really that is pretty good strategy for backyard breeder.

Thing is with a not so good rooster, just kind of ruins the whole chicken deal.

Mrs k

 

[Ridgerunner]

when he initiates mating he hardly mounts and ends up just biting the girls on the heads. Is there any hope for him growing out of that or should I get rid of him?

It is possible that since he is younger and less mature than your other boys the girls don't respect him. A lot of mating is about flock dominance, not fertilizing the eggs. He may be trying to establish dominance over them and they judge that he is not worthy of their respect. That may change as he matures but I would not count on it. It could be other things going on but this is what it sounds like to me. He may always be a brute that relies on force instead of winning their respect.

Why do you want to keep him? How are your goals tied to having this third rooster? There may be some reasons you want to keep him. If you can tell me what your goals are I may be able to help you come up with a strategy to keep him and meet those goals. That will probably involve isolating him. But if you don't have any specific reasons to keep him I'd suggest solving for peace in the flock and get rid of him.

 

[ParksPoultry]

It is possible that since he is younger and less mature than your other boys the girls don't respect him. A lot of mating is about flock dominance, not fertilizing the eggs. He may be trying to establish dominance over them and they judge that he is not worthy of their respect. That may change as he matures but I would not count on it. It could be other things going on but this is what it sounds like to me. He may always be a brute that relies on force instead of winning their respect.

Why do you want to keep him? How are your goals tied to having this third rooster? There may be some reasons you want to keep him. If you can tell me what your goals are I may be able to help you come up with a strategy to keep him and meet those goals. That will probably involve isolating him. Bity if you don't have any specific reasons to keep him I'd suggest solving for peace in the flock and get rid of him.

He has the very precious O/O blue egg gene. My other boys can be turds to humans, but are great flock protectors. He’s a handsome guy and seems like a waste to cull. I was optimistic he’d grow up I also don’t want him harassing another flock.

 

[Araucana2]

Some are too aggressive to humans and some are too aggressive to the hens, I put them on the chopping block

 

[Ridgerunner]

He has the very precious O/O blue egg gene. My other boys can be turds to humans, but are great flock protectors.

So you want to use him for breeding. Do any of the hens have the blue eggshell gene? How badly do you need that one cockerel to get the blue eggshell gene in your flock?

It sounds like your other two are showing human aggression. To me, that could be worse than what that third cockerel is doing. I'm not there looking so I don't know how bad the human aggression or the bothering of the hens actually is. None of your three sound ideal.

So what are your options?

If you have hens that lay blue eggs, hatch them and raise replacement roosters. Keep only replacements that hatch from the blue eggs so you know you have that gene. You do not need the third cockerel for this.

Do you have a way to isolate one or two of the boys from the flock long term? Try removing the two and see how the third reacts when he doesn't have the competition. You don't have to get rid of the other two permanently until you see how that works out if you can keep them out of the loop and let him take over. I don't know if he will change that much if they are gone but it is possible.

Are any of them actually being injured or is this just hard for you to watch? If none are being injured let them work it out. You need to keep an eye on it so you can intervene if you see an actual injury.

Bring in one or more new boys that have the traits you want and get rid of all three. That could be new chicks or you might try to find mature roosters from your neighbors. The way I do it is to order several cockerel chicks from a hatchery so I get what I want and eat all the ones I don't want to keep.

I don't know why you have that many chickens or what your goals are. It sounds like you want to hatch your own replacements. I don't know if those two "turds" are worth keeping, how human aggressive they really are. I don't know if the third will change as he matures. I don't see any specific way that is guaranteed to solve your problems. I'm not sure that those two turds bother you that much. I wish you good luck with it.

 

[Twilia]

Some are too aggressive to humans and some are too aggressive to the hens, I put them on the chopping block

For those with roo agression issues, check out this article:

Ask about Roosters: How to Deal with Aggression, Explained.

After realizing the need for clarity, I decided to create an article for those of you who have roos with behavior issues, those thinking about adding one to your flock, or if you are just curious since the issue is natural to come up for each of us in even the most docile of males. It is...

• Twilia
• Mar 21, 2025
• 4.00 star(s) 2 ratings
• Comments: 3
• Reviews: 2
• Category: Member Pages

,
Tell me your take-away(s), or suggestion to make it better in the comments ; )

 

[Araucana2]

For those with roo agression issues, check out this article:

Ask about Roosters: How to Deal with Aggression, Explained.

After realizing the need for clarity, I decided to create an article for those of you who have roos with behavior issues, those thinking about adding one to your flock, or if you are just curious since the issue is natural to come up for each of us in even the most docile of males. It is...

• Twilia
• Mar 21, 2025
• 4.00 star(s) 2 ratings
• Comments: 3
• Reviews: 2
• Category: Member Pages

,
Tell me your take-away(s), or suggestion to make it better in the comments ; )

Its wrong to think twice to axe a mean one! Get teh axe and save a friendly one instead, everything else is just a waste of time.