When will my rooster take charge

[lv9777]

I have a 6 month old rooster. I added 4 new chicks and gave them to my broody cochin. I ended up with a rooster who I am going to try and keep. I have 5 older hens ranging in age from 2-6 yrs. Since the young ones were raised by my broody who was second in charge, everyone is coexisting nicely. However, the rooster shows no signs of taking charge of the flock. He is crowing, but no dancing or tidbiting. He is not aggressive, which is good, but he appears on the bottom of the pecking order. My top girls make sure that he knows they are in charge. His "siblings" will stay with him when everyone ranges, but he does no take care of them and is first to grab all the treats. I have not seen him try to mate with anyone. He is a plymouth rock mix. Is he just a late maturer or do some rooster just not have the personality of a leader?

 

[sourland]

He is a cockerel, not yet a rooster - think teenager in a room of grown women.. He is being well schooled by the mature hens in the flock. Somewhere the next six months or so he will mature and become the flock leader you desire.

 

[fluffycrow]

Doesn't sound totally abnormal to me. Many cockerels mature later than others. It can also be related to the season. Not as much drive to mate in the winter compared to spring and summer.

On top of that, as southland mentioned, he's a young cockerel in a group with lots of mature/senior hens. Even when he does start mating, they will likely give him a hard time. Young cockerels should learn proper manners from the older hens of the group, as not to turn into aggressive (with their own kind) roosters (which might still happen).

Your guy sound generally immature, even without having the senior hen's respect, he'd still try to impress them and act polite if he were sexually mature, something that your guy is not doing.

In a few months, he should step up to the role of head rooster, and after that it won't be long before he earns the respect of everyone in the group

 

[HollowOfWisps]

You don’t want him taking charge right now in fact the hens making sure he knows his place is 100% what you want. When cockerels mature without older hens knocking him down a few pegs you have the equivalent of a teenager boy who was never given boundaries or disciplined. The hens right now are showing him what the boundaries are and making sure he knows that respectful behavior is all that they will accept from him. My cockerels that were taught a good lesson and their place with older hens grew up to be respectful of both the hens and people. The ones that had no older hen guidance I had about 50% more aggressive roosters. I even did a test sample with 14 cockerels I raised from chicks all from the same breeder same breed. However, to answer your question when he fully matures in both respect and sexually speaking is when he will take his spot as leader of the flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A six month old cockerel in a flock of mature hens, no mature rooster, and pullets his age.

Different chickens mature at different rates, boys or girls. We house them differently too. Each chicken has its own personality. I can get different results each year with the same facilities and same general management.

One year I had a five-month-old cockerel take over as flock master, very peacefully. I did not even know it was happening until one day I noticed he was in charge. Most of my cockerels can manage that around 7 months but I had one that took until 11 months.

The individual personality of the hens play a big part in this too. Often the hens or pullets lower in the pecking order accept him before the dominant hen. The more dominant hens are more likely to resist him. The year I had the 5 month old the dominant hen quickly accepted him. He had a strong personality and she didn't. That made it very peaceful.

I get mixed results with the 7 month olds. Sometimes you see fighting and bullying as he takes over but it is usually fairly peaceful.

With the 11 month old the dominant hen had a strong personality and he didn't. He was weak-willed and unsure of himself. Some of the lower ranked hens would let him mate but if the dominant hen saw him she would knock him off. And she would not squat for him. I did not see the dominant hen or any of the others go out of their way to beat him up or teach him manners. He probably learned to leave certain hens alone.

It took him 11 months to mature to the point he challenged her for flock dominance. When he did they fought for two days. Neither was injured that badly so I let them have at it. After two days she accepted his dominance and they became best buddies, usually hanging out together. I did watch because if one had been seriously injured I'd have broken it up. They can kill each other.

I don't know how this will work in your flock. You do not get guarantees with living animals. He should mature and take over. That takeover may be peaceful or violent. It may be soon or it may be a while. With my chickens this has always happened. I expect it to with yours.

You are in Michigan, thanks for that information. That means short days and cold weather. The urge to mate often dramatically increases with spring weather.

Have you checked your eggs for the bull's eye to see if they are fertile or not? You don't always see them mating.

I do not see anything strange or unusual in what you are seeing. Mainly, it takes patience.

 

[lv9777]

Thanks so much for all the information. I have not had a rooster previously. I will let my old girls keep teaching him manners and wait for spring. I do not light or heat my coop so no eggs to check at present. I will keep a close watch as my top hen is my favorite and oldest gal. She is very bossy and 100% in charge, so I will want to make sure the transition of power has no blood shed. The cockerel is quite docile and passive, so it may take a while.
I appreciate all the advice!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Will be interested to see how this shakes out. Keep us posted!

 

[orelsi]

Give it another month or two, he will be bigger and more confident. It will happen naturally. Hens, especially older ones, will resist young roosters until they are overpowered. That way they make sure the rooster is strong and will give them strong and healthy chicks. It’s nature's way to guarantee the best genes are passed on.

 

[SamLockwood]

Cut him some slack, he's the equivalent of a teenager. At the same age my current alpha rooster was scrawny and skittish. At a year old he kicked the crap out of the previous alpha rooster (but didn't kill or even permanently damage him) and became an awesome flock guardian and organizer.

 

[3cats2acresand1Hen]

It's been a couple months, do you have an update? I'm so interested!!