Are My Roosters Being Too Rough On Their Hens?

[Sparrow-Song]

I have 4 of them with flocks right now and I need advice. Most of my hens are ending up missing back feathers in all 3 coops, one of these situations is understandable because he’s a Jersey Giant so he’s just big, but one of the others is definitely overworking them and being rough, and the third coop there's two roosters and I'm worried that they're just being too rough because they have enough hens that they shouldn't be too focused on anyone. I can’t tell if these guys are being too aggressive with them?

I’ve been reading some stories on here and it seems like ‘flogging’ with the wings isn't great, and probably pecking really hard on the backs of their heads to hold them down isn't either… Wondering if there’s any solution to these super overzealous roos? For background three of the roosters were raised with their hens, the other guy (Jersey Giant) came with the house and so did his hens but their numbers have been dwindling. He’s always left them with bare backs though and we’ve had to remove most of his hens because of it. Is this normal for them? Or is there something I can do about this behavior? None of my roos are aggressive towards me, but they are stressing out their hens.

For the roos, they tend to mount their hens pretty aggressively and peck them hard on the back of the head to keep them there while they flutter their wings around. Three of them were raised with the hens but for all, even if they weren't, they're so big they can get away with things. None of the boys have ever been aggressive towards me, but one of them has definitely been staring me down lately. I think he is just worried I'm a threat because I keep trying to remove one of his hens so that he will leave her be (she has big scabs on her back and a lot of bare skin) He also keeps trying to fight the roosters from the flock next door (though they’re just as bad) even if it means leaving his hens ranging without him for a bit.

He’s otherwise very good, though, the two other boys don’t really stay with their flock much when they’re out but this roo is always with his girls unless he’s posturing to keep them away, and like I said he’s never aggressive with me.

None of my flock roosters are, they sometimes peck me if I’m picking them up and they don’t like it but other than that they let me come by and bother them.

Does anyone have any advice? Is there something I can do to train them out of this behavior or get them to stop being so rough? I don't want to get rid of any entirely because we have hawks nesting around here (they come by and have sat directly on chicken coop doors before) and simply can't afford to have a flock without a protector. Thank you!

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

You didn't mention what your rooster to hen ratio is?

 

[humblehillsfarm]

It helps to have 6-10 hens at least for every rooster, but sometimes they are still over zealous or pick a favorite hen. I have purchased inexpensive "hen aprons" or "chicken saddles" from etsy which have endured the test of time, and roosters. I've had hens wear one for most of the summer without issue.

 

[Sussex19]

How many hens to each rooster do you have?

 

[Tonyroo]

As for the bare backs of your hens, consider rounding or blunt there toenails.

As for behavior you can't train a different behavior for rooster to behave when mating. It's just how they are.

 

[Yardmom]

What are the ages of the "roosters". Also ratios of boys to girls is important.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm also interested in how old your chickens are, boys and girls. It sounds a lot like you have at least some immature cockerels instead of mature roosters. How crowded are they, which means how many do you have and how big of an area are they in. I find that behavior problems are often magnified if they are crowded.

peck them hard on the back of the head to keep them there while they flutter their wings around.

The "head grab" is a vital part of the mating act. That is the girl's signal to raise her tail out of the way so he can hit the target. It is an instinctive act on her part once he grabs the back of her head. There would be no fertile eggs if it were not for the head grab. Are the girls losing feathers and leaving a bare spot on the back of their heads?

Is there any way you could show photos of some of that feather loss on their backs? It can be risky if it is really bare but often it seems to be more of a problem to us than it is to them.