Young Rooster is suddenly very aggressive

[Glennzo]

I hatched a rooster in March this year, he has been the sweetest boy - up until just now. He attacked the Matriarch hen to the point of stomping on her face and biting her comb. My question is this...
Why would he suddenly do that? She has allowed him to mate her a few times, not willingly though. There are 9 other hens but has chosen to bully the head of the hens. She is a huge black Australorp. She was so afraid that I could just pick her up to safety. He is a cross breed of chickens that are docile, and ussually he is very docile. The weather has been very cold and windy today, we are going into spring. I have taken him into his night cage. What can I do? Will this go on? Is he establishing a new pecking order? He hasn’t got spurs yet. Can he actually kill her?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

sounds like he needs to learn some manners. He's getting his hormones and is trying to learn what his role is. Try separating them for some time and see nif he changes his tune

 

[Glennzo]

sounds like he needs to learn some manners. He's getting his hormones and is trying to learn what his role is. Try separating them for some time and see nif he changes his tune

Thank You, I will seperste them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

He is growing up. At 5 months old he has decide he is ready to take over as flock master from the dominant hen. If she hasn't willingly mated with him she hasn't allowed it, he forced her. His attack on her head is a further attempt to force her to accept his dominance.

I've been through this transition before, from the dominant hen being the flock master to a cockerel taking over. Usually my boys are older when that happens and usually it is more peaceful. I had one as young as 5 months do that peacefully once. I've had several around 7 months take over pretty peacefully. I had one 11 months old where it involved two days of pretty vicious behavior before the dominant hen gave up her flock dominance role and they became best buddies. In my experience the attitude of the dominant hen has an effect as to how violent it is. Some give up the flock dominant role pretty easily, some really fight to hold onto it.

So what can you do? As long as no blood is drawn I let them work it out. You do need to observe in case one of then gets hurt, probably her. I've never had to separate them but there is always that possibility. And yes, he could kill her.

You can isolate the boy and wait for him to mature more. She is more likely to accept his dominance if he is more mature. She probably sees him more as a brash immature adolescent than as a mature rooster worthy of being the father of her children. That may take a few weeks, it may take a few months. You'll just have to keep trying.

You can isolate that dominant hen for a while. See how he interacts with the rest of the flock, see if that behavior is acceptable. If he settles in as an acceptable flock master and she is knocked back in the pecking order due to being isolated her reintroduction may be fairly peaceful. Or it may not, never can tell.

 

[SueT]

Is he being aggressive to humans?

 

[Glennzo]

Is he being aggressive to humans?

He is not being aggressive to humans. That’s why this just shocked me completely when I saw it.

 

[Glennzo]

He is growing up. At 5 months old he has decide he is ready to take over as flock master from the dominant hen. If she hasn't willingly mated with him she hasn't allowed it, he forced her. His attack on her head is a further attempt to force her to accept his dominance.

I've been through this transition before, from the dominant hen being the flock master to a cockerel taking over. Usually my boys are older when that happens and usually it is more peaceful. I had one as young as 5 months do that peacefully once. I've had several around 7 months take over pretty peacefully. I had one 11 months old where it involved two days of pretty vicious behavior before the dominant hen gave up her flock dominance role and they became best buddies. In my experience the attitude of the dominant hen has an effect as to how violent it is. Some give up the flock dominant role pretty easily, some really fight to hold onto it.

So what can you do? As long as no blood is drawn I let them work it out. You do need to observe in case one of then gets hurt, probably her. I've never had to separate them but there is always that possibility. And yes, he could kill her.

You can isolate the boy and wait for him to mature more. She is more likely to accept his dominance if he is more mature. She probably sees him more as a brash immature adolescent than as a mature rooster worthy of being the father of her children. That may take a few weeks, it may take a few months. You'll just have to keep trying.

You can isolate that dominant hen for a while. See how he interacts with the rest of the flock, see if that behavior is acceptable. If he settles in as an acceptable flock master and she is knocked back in the pecking order due to being isolated her reintroduction may be fairly peaceful. Or it may not, never can tell.

 

[Glennzo]

Thank You, I will isolate him for a while and see how it goes.

 

[Glennzo]

The rooster in question...His name is Zeus.