Young Roosters... :(

[Solsalia]

We took on a young Rooster this year. I have a tenured rooster George which is 3 years old. He is so good with the Hens and us. I cannot stand the young Rooster!! It's like having a teenager. Before we got rid of the other Roosters and kept him he was on the bottom of the pecking order and rarely came out of the Rooster Coop. George tolerates him but still takes a swipe at him occasionally. This Rooster was not raised with the flock as a chick-ling. I would love to bypass the young roosters and get Tenured Roosters. The chasing of the hens and squaking after he finally catches them i super annoying! We have 20 hens.What do you do when you are trying to raise a back up rooster or replacement. I don't think we will ever replace George. He's a good boy to his girls.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I often keep troublemaking young roosters penned separately for a few months to up to a year before they are allowed free access to the hens. Unfortunately it's quite common for them to think only with their hormones for the first year.

 

[donrae]

I like to keep my potential Keepers in the main coop, preferably with my mature rooster (currently Eric). Mature rooster prevents mating or too much chasing of the hens. Hens harassed by young cockerels run to mature rooster for protection, or put up enough of a fuss to draw his attention.

It has been kind of fun watching the irony of last year's Keeper, who gave Eric a run for his money some days, now dealing with two Keeper cockerels. I don't think he gets much rest, he's pretty vigilant about keeping them from mating with "his" hens.