Is something wrong with my cockerel?

[ChiSoxChick]

Hi - I'm a first time chicken owner. I have 4 leghorn females, an austrolorp female and a leghorn male. They are about 10 weeks old. I also have 2 pekin ducks that are the same age and I got all at once. I have an 8 foot by 8 foot coop and a 12'x10' fenced area around it, but they are allowed to free range during the day since we have several acres. The problem is that my rooster seems odd - he's very fat and he refuses to leave the coop. I will sometimes carry him out into the yard because otherwise he just sits inside all day while the others roam. He walks like Frankenstein the few times he does get up - almost like his knees don't bend. The last week or so he will try to grab the ladies by the neck if they walk too close to him - he's pulled their feathers out a few times. Last night he did it to one of the ducks. Is he a lost cause, or should I give him some time to grow up a little? Just not sure if this is typical of young roosters. Thanks!

 

[SilverBirds]

Are you sure he is a Leghorn and not a CX? Can you post a picture of him?

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Hi - I'm a first time chicken owner. I have 4 leghorn females, an austrolorp female and a leghorn male. They are about 10 weeks old. I also have 2 pekin ducks that are the same age and I got all at once. I have an 8 foot by 8 foot coop and a 12'x10' fenced area around it, but they are allowed to free range during the day since we have several acres. The problem is that my rooster seems odd - he's very fat and he refuses to leave the coop. I will sometimes carry him out into the yard because otherwise he just sits inside all day while the others roam. He walks like Frankenstein the few times he does get up - almost like his knees don't bend. The last week or so he will try to grab the ladies by the neck if they walk too close to him - he's pulled their feathers out a few times. Last night he did it to one of the ducks. Is he a lost cause, or should I give him some time to grow up a little? Just not sure if this is typical of young roosters. Thanks!

If he looks “fat”, you might have accidentally bought a meat bird.

The neck feather pulling though, he’s asserting his dominance. I occasionally see my Plymouth Barred Rock do that during mating, and you might just have a more aggressive boy.

 

[ChiSoxChick]

Are you sure he is a Leghorn and not a CX? Can you post a picture of him?

I don't know a lot about them - I got them at TSC so I was just trusting their label haha
I'll attach a couple pictures - one was taken a week ago and the other was about a month ago. Sorry they're a little blurry I'm not great at pictures

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

I don't know a lot about them - I got them at TSC so I was just trusting their label haha
I'll attach a couple pictures - one was taken a week ago and the other was about a month ago. Sorry they're a little blurry I'm not great at pictures

Ooh yeah, that’s a broiler boy. Are you in central Ohio?

 

[ChiSoxChick]

If he looks “fat”, you might have accidentally bought a meat bird.

The neck feather pulling though, he’s asserting his dominance. I occasionally see my Plymouth Barred Rock do that during mating, and you might just have a more aggressive boy.

I was wondering if that's what I did! Should I intervene when he does that? I read that's how they mate but I also don't want the girls stressed or hurt.

 

[SilverBirds]

I don't know a lot about them - I got them at TSC so I was just trusting their label haha
I'll attach a couple pictures - one was taken a week ago and the other was about a month ago. Sorry they're a little blurry I'm not great at pictures

Unfortunately, he is a CX (Cornish Cross), a meat breed meant to grow very large very fast. This is the age that you would be butchering him. It would be kindest to him if you could find someone to process him for you. They often have leg issues and problems with their internal organs, leading to short painful lives.

 

[ChiSoxChick]

Ooh yeah, that’s a broiler boy. Are you in central Ohio?

No, northern Indiana - almost Michigan.

 

[ChiSoxChick]

Unfortunately, he is a CX (Cornish Cross), a meat breed meant to grow very large very fast. This is the age that you would be butchering him. It would be kindest to him if you could find someone to process him for you. They often have leg issues and problems with their internal organs, leading to short painful lives.

Oh no thank you so much though - I thought there was something really wrong

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

No, northern Indiana - almost Michigan.

That’s a shame. If you were closer, I’ve got a few roosters that I’m looking to get rid of, and I’m not in the mood for soup.