Rooster Questions.

[sarahag]

You are not dealing with an adult rooster, you are dealing with an adolescent cockerel with hormones running wild. He may or may not straighten out when he matures some. I assume the pullets are the same age? They haven’t exactly matured either, if they are that age. Your facilities and general flock make-up have an effect too.

A lot of cockerels literally lose their heads at this age because of immaturity. Many of them would make good flock masters if allowed to mature, but at the same time, some won’t. And it is often not easy dealing with them at this age.

I see four options.
1) Permanently get rid of him. How you do that is up to you.
2) Just let him go and put up with it, trying some control management with him. That may or may not work out long term, and even if he learns to live around you and your husband, he may still be a danger to any visitors or children. You are dealing with living animals. No one can give you guarantees how this will work out.
3) Isolate him for a few months and let the entire flock mature. That may or may not solve your problem, but have a contingency plan ready in case it does not.
4) Get rid of him and bring in an older rooster, one more mature, when the pullets grow up some more if they are still fairly young.

The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Anything else is pure personal choice. Some people would not dream of having a flock without a rooster, others are quite happy with an all-hen flock, even if they free range. My suggestion is to keep as few roosters as you can and still meet your goals. That’s not because you are guaranteed problems with roosters but because there is a greater chance of problems the more roosters you have. Your perfect number of roosters may be zero.

Yes they are all 6 months old. Hatch date was I August from my pet chicken. They are excellent hens and I would like to order more and expand when I have this issue under control. Eventually we wanted chicks - thus the Rooster.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

He's hitting his sexual peak and typical Teen testosterone filled ill behavioral phase. It will pass. Cockerels mellow once they become Cockbirds. He's simply filled with hormones and trying to keep his harem. You seem a threat to him and his head of flock status.

Overly handling males as they grow up can contribute to more aggression as they mature due to them seeing the species lines blurred. You become a competitor in this scenario. Handling of birds for inspection is agreeable and conditions them. Treating them like chickens and not pets is the key when males are involved.

You can wait for it to pass or try separating him for a short time. Cage him in a dog kennel or the like for a week or two and pick him up now and then for conditioning. The separation from females will curb the hormones and conditioning clear the lines of your the flockmaster human and he's the chicken. His fear of you as a competitor will abate with proper handling and his hormones will only be raging for a few more months.