Your roosters bullying young hens

[Poultney300]

Yes the one rooster who seems to be the bully is a huge Easter egger/ Americauna and he is with the big girls if the red one bothers them he will be isolated as well and tonight the young hens and the pledger ones will coop together. First pic is the evil Ozzie second in the front is the other rooster Boyd not as bad

The two hens behind Boyd seem to be the main targets and are not laying only 14 weeks so are the roosters

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have 10 older hens and 4 14 week old hens and 2 14 week old roosters which attach the young hens jointly on a regular basis, one mounts and the pecks their heads what do I do?

You have 4 immature pullets and 2 immature cockerels, not hens and roosters. Them going through adolescence is your problem. The boys have hit puberty and their hormones have taken control. It's not about sex or fertilizing eggs that are not there. The girls are still too immature to do anything and the boys are afraid of the older hens. I don't see the boys teaming up like that but some others on here say they have. Each flock is different.

When the boys get older they will show an interest in the older hens. Different things can happen. The older hens may resist the boys but with mine the majority just run away or submit. Often the dominant hen will try to keep the boys in check, knocking them off of the other hens if they try to mate. Or the boys may take over. They will eventually when they mature enough but that can take a while and get fairly exciting down there.

Eventually the pullets and cockerels will mature enough that things settle down between them but that can take a while and can get really wild. That intermediate phase can be hard to watch. You have two different phases, the cockerels and the pullets their own age you're seeing now and what will happen with the older hens when those boys mature more. That's part of the boys growing up with the flock but it can be hard to watch. Mine typically don't get injured during any of that but force and violence are involved. Injury is a possibility.

So what can you do? You can let it go as it is and see what happens. As long as no one is getting injured no one is getting injured. None are permanently going to suffer life altering emotions or psychological problems. But you do need to pay attention, one could get hurt. This is pretty much what I do but my circumstances are a little different from yours.

You can remove one of the boys and see what happens. Sometimes that changes the dynamics of the flock dramatically. The one remaining will still have the hormones but that may drop the level of activity to an acceptable level.

You can separate the boys from the others until the boys and girls mature. If you go that route I'd wait until a couple of the pullets are laying eggs. Laying eggs signals their maturity. Then put them back together and see what happens. Sometimes boys need a little more time to mature but often this will work. You might be able to bypass a lot of the drama with the mature hens this way too. Or maybe not.

What are your goals to keeping those boys? Why do you want to keep them? The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Everything else is personal preference. Nothing wrong with personal preference I have a few of those myself. But that is a choice, not a need.

My typical suggestion is to keep as few males as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed more problems with more males but because the more males you have the more likely you are to have problems. Those could be behavioral problems with the females or it could be one becoming human aggressive.

I have the 10 older girls in a larger coop will move the mew hens in there, they spend the day all together, and leave the 2 Roos separated and see if that helps otherwise one may need to go. I don’t want the young ones terrified and the two of the Roos have not divided the females so they pick on the same two repeatedly

I think this is a good plan. Good luck.

 

[Poultney300]

You have 4 immature pullets and 2 immature cockerels, not hens and roosters. Them going through adolescence is your problem. The boys have hit puberty and their hormones have taken control. It's not about sex or fertilizing eggs that are not there. The girls are still too immature to do anything and the boys are afraid of the older hens. I don't see the boys teaming up like that but some others on here say they have. Each flock is different.

When the boys get older they will show an interest in the older hens. Different things can happen. The older hens may resist the boys but with mine the majority just run away or submit. Often the dominant hen will try to keep the boys in check, knocking them off of the other hens if they try to mate. Or the boys may take over. They will eventually when they mature enough but that can take a while and get fairly exciting down there.

Eventually the pullets and cockerels will mature enough that things settle down between them but that can take a while and can get really wild. That intermediate phase can be hard to watch. You have two different phases, the cockerels and the pullets their own age you're seeing now and what will happen with the older hens when those boys mature more. That's part of the boys growing up with the flock but it can be hard to watch. Mine typically don't get injured during any of that but force and violence are involved. Injury is a possibility.

So what can you do? You can let it go as it is and see what happens. As long as no one is getting injured no one is getting injured. None are permanently going to suffer life altering emotions or psychological problems. But you do need to pay attention, one could get hurt. This is pretty much what I do but my circumstances are a little different from yours.

You can remove one of the boys and see what happens. Sometimes that changes the dynamics of the flock dramatically. The one remaining will still have the hormones but that may drop the level of activity to an acceptable level.

You can separate the boys from the others until the boys and girls mature. If you go that route I'd wait until a couple of the pullets are laying eggs. Laying eggs signals their maturity. Then put them back together and see what happens. Sometimes boys need a little more time to mature but often this will work. You might be able to bypass a lot of the drama with the mature hens this way too. Or maybe not.

What are your goals to keeping those boys? Why do you want to keep them? The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Everything else is personal preference. Nothing wrong with personal preference I have a few of those myself. But that is a choice, not a need.

My typical suggestion is to keep as few males as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed more problems with more males but because the more males you have the more likely you are to have problems. Those could be behavioral problems with the females or it could be one becoming human aggressive.


I think this is a good plan. Good luck.

I have one separated out and the one who just hit puberty is with the older hens - he seems not to bother them and they can take car of themselves- maybe this will work until the pullets mature a bit more

 

[Kirmi8]

How are you boys doing now? Have you put both back in? I have 2 EE roosters that I got in August and they are about 5 months now and are very active with the ladies (30 hens). They are super friendly and not aggressive with each other or with people.
Our problems happen when one of the boys tries to mount a hen, the other will come and try and hop on as well and it’s causing feather loss issues. I’ve only seen one hen squat for them willingly so far.
Will things settle down eventually? Or do I need to get rid of one? Kicking myself for getting two but they are so lovely.