are hens less friendly when they have a rooster?

[brandonstokley]

about 5 years ago I started a little five bird flock in Washington state. just hatchery wilco birds that were all different. Wyandottes, brahma, eater egger and an australorpe. they were super friendly and would fly up onto my shoulder all the time. the blue australorpe could be a little flighty if I needed to catch her.

I moved to Florida started this flock with some greenfire farm birds, a few from a local lady, and some tsc easter Eggers. I ended up with too many roosters from the greenfire farms purchase. so my yard is constant crowing at dawn and evening. I have the big dominate rooster with the two pullets I got from the local lady.

all these new birds are skiddish! the roosters the bachelor pad have learned I give the treats so they are somewhat interested in me. the big rooster with the girls is mean as hell and I need to bring the shovel with me to keep him at bay(he may have scared me the other morning and got a jerk reaction "nudge") but the two pullets won't come near me. The easter Eggers scream and run into the corner in a ball whenever I come into the coop.

my question is I guess....

did my last flock see me as the rooster cause the didn't have a man thus making them more friendly?
is my new flock not as into me because they gots a man and don't need their man getting jealous and throwing out the pimp slap?

 

[Mrs. K]

You have way too many roosters. That adds a huge amount of tension in the air, even if they can’t get to the hens.

But even in a better balanced flock, hens with a rooster look to the rooster first.
You didn’t ask, but you need to cull several roosters unless you have a huge amount of space. The one with the hens needs to go, his violence will keep on increasing. If he is attacking you, he will attack anyone else too. It is like keeping a vicious dog.

Then look at your bachelor flock, one of those might work. I am glad that you have them separate, but I understand about the noise. When that gets to be too much, I cull.

The thing is I keep chickens for my enjoyment, not to live with a constant din, or to be physically attacked for trying to feed them. Sometimes people seem to think that because they bought them they should be forever friends. Chickens often times don’t make good forever friends. Good animal husbandry is making good decisions for the whole flock. Birds come into and out of the flock.

Mrs K

 

[brandonstokley]

You have way too many roosters. That adds a huge amount of tension in the air, even if they can’t get to the hens.

But even in a better balanced flock, hens with a rooster look to the rooster first.
You didn’t ask, but you need to cull several roosters unless you have a huge amount of space. The one with the hens needs to go, his violence will keep on increasing. If he is attacking you, he will attack anyone else too. It is like keeping a vicious dog.

Then look at your bachelor flock, one of those might work. I am glad that you have them separate, but I understand about the noise. When that gets to be too much, I cull.

The thing is I keep chickens for my enjoyment, not to live with a constant din, or to be physically attacked for trying to feed them. Sometimes people seem to think that because they bought them they should be forever friends. Chickens often times don’t make good forever friends. Good animal husbandry is making good decisions for the whole flock. Birds come into and out of the flock.

Mrs K

yes I agree about too many roosters. just.... at $60 a chick.... culling is painful. the bachelor pad is in the front yard so they can't even see the flock in the back. just hear them.

im sure one of my bachelor pad chickens will suffice. I am intending to breed a nice quality bcm flock but I gotta wait till their end of the year when we get onto our 5 acre lot to purchase more. im out of room right now. the easter Eggers were an easy economical fix to my poor ratios.

 

[Geena]

I doubt hens ever really see a human as their rooster, more like a treat dispenser. But yes, if you have a rooster their allegiance is normally going to be with him.
As Mrs. K stated it sounds like they are probably extra flighty due to the stressful environment. I get that it hurts to cull $60 chickens, but for everyone's sake it would be best to whittle down to just the two best males.

 

[SueT]

(I agree w the above answers. )
But no, hens are not less friendly if they have a rooster, they still want attention, follow me around, etc. I probably don’t handle them as much since I’ve had a rooster, since I want him to stay stand-off-ish, and he wants to monitor all they do. But the 2 good roosters I’ve had don’t actually seem to fret if I pick up a hen.

 

[pinewoodacres]

about 5 years ago I started a little five bird flock in Washington state. just hatchery wilco birds that were all different. Wyandottes, brahma, eater egger and an australorpe. they were super friendly and would fly up onto my shoulder all the time. the blue australorpe could be a little flighty if I needed to catch her.

I moved to Florida started this flock with some greenfire farm birds, a few from a local lady, and some tsc easter Eggers. I ended up with too many roosters from the greenfire farms purchase. so my yard is constant crowing at dawn and evening. I have the big dominate rooster with the two pullets I got from the local lady.

all these new birds are skiddish! the roosters the bachelor pad have learned I give the treats so they are somewhat interested in me. the big rooster with the girls is mean as hell and I need to bring the shovel with me to keep him at bay(he may have scared me the other morning and got a jerk reaction "nudge") but the two pullets won't come near me. The easter Eggers scream and run into the corner in a ball whenever I come into the coop.

my question is I guess....

did my last flock see me as the rooster cause the didn't have a man thus making them more friendly?
is my new flock not as into me because they gots a man and don't need their man getting jealous and throwing out the pimp slap?

I think this is partially related to breed, part individual personality, and part your setup. I have never had birds that really *want* to sit on my shoulder. My first birds got way more attention (started with 8) so they would sit in our laps briefly if we put them there, or on a shoulder, but never of their own accord. We have had roosters always except for when I had to kill our first one (gave away two males of the originals and kept one, he got aggressive with my kids and that was it for him). We set eggs almost immediately so we had no males out in the run for maybe like three months till I brought the new ones out to integrate with the originals. I didn’t see any difference in behavior during that time, but I can say it was way more boring without the roosters involved! I would never not have a rooster again. I have only ever had Cream Legbars, Welsummers, and crosses thereof, so I cannot speak for other breeds. I can say as I’ve grown my flock, they have had less handling and attention and the ones hatched by the broody are hardest to catch and seem most “feral.” Some are easier to catch than others, but that’s always been the case.

 

[nuthatched]

X4 while it hurts to cull birds that cost you $60 a pop, how much does it cost to feed non laying birds that make your life miserable? It's like paying for a storage unit, after a while, it would have been cheaper to get new bird and not cling to the original investment.
Maybe you can sell them.

 

[MysteryChicken]

No, hens aren't less friendly when they have a rooster. My more flighty/skittish ladies are generally more due to personality then anything else, same with my friendliest hens.

I have hens/pullets that are both friendly, & flighty, or more shy.

Each coop has Roosters, either 2, or more. Had to cut down on excess roosters/cockerels this year. Had way too many.

 

[Mrs. K]

$60 a chick - good grief I thought $6.00 a chick was high. They are valuable - contact a local poultry club, or 4-H clubs - someone else might want some of them.

You might notice a real improvement even if you don't get rid of all, but get rid of some.

$60...holy moly.

 

[bhaugh]

I agree with everyone else. I too have birds because I enjoy them. But if they create me misery, they are gone. I just sold two very nice Marans because they were so noisy. No longer did I enjoy them or even enjoy gardening because they screamed when I was outside. Had to go.
Life is short, enjoy them and if they cause a disturbance, get rid of the ones who do.
Post on CL for the green fire roos. You may not get 60 for them but some recoup is better than none. Makes me wonder if you were sold boys on purpose as chicks can be sexed.