"Rough" Rooster

[amberalora]

My Rooster is rough on my hens, one hen has no tail left at all and another has a lot of feathers missing on her back and the back of her head. I just have three hens with him, and he is fairly young - about 10 months old. He is a Wyandotte. Do roosters ever settle or get more gentle with age? Do I need more hens in with him? Is this normal? He is easy to work around and has never been aggressive towards me, I just hate seeing the hens get picked on like this and wanted some insight.

Thanks!

[Killerbunny]

I would think about saddles for the hens. Sometimes they settle but if they are nasty I don't keep them. He is very young. Watch for any behaviour from the hens indicating that they don't like him, that was a warning sign for me with one of my Wyandotte roosters.

[Ontario Chick]

At 10 month old he isn't very likely to change.
As a rule Wyandottes are very laid back birds, but there are exceptions.
3 hens isn't really enough birds, ideally he would have 6-8, but even then he will have favorites and can do damage.
Meanwhile to protect the hens, You can separate him (dog kennel works well) and put him back with the hens every 5 days or so, that will still give you fertilized eggs and the hens will have time to recover.
The hen with no feathers on back will not grow them back until next molt and in the meantime she will get sunburn so like @Killerbunny suggested saddles help.

[ross]

Rehabilitation..

[ross]

Rehabilitation..

[KimChick]

In my meager experience, I would agree that your rooster needs more hens.
Right now, I have 2 roosters- Bert and Bert Jr., and 17 hens. BJ was hatched last July. They are both good roosters and BJ respects his daddy, Bert. When my incubating eggs hatch and it's time to put the younguns into their half of the enclosure, we will most likely send Bert off to freezer camp.
Last year, in BJ's group of hatchlings, there ended up to be 6 roosters and 4 hens. My favourite looking rooster ended up to be a meanie, and was thus sent to the freezer. BJ was my next favourite because I like his shape and colouring.

[Shnookie]

I have an EO rooster that is just mean to the hens in general, and is kind of aggressive when breeding. They are afraid of him. I am not a fan of his looks or personality so he will probably be sent to Ross's rehab. :)

[amberalora]

Thank you for all the advice & input, and LOL @ Ross's rehab center! hahaha

I'm slow getting back on here, but I read all of your posts and have been working on solutions & trying to decide what to do with him.

First off, I bought 8 more chicks. Hubby didn't think we needed more chickens, and you guys convinced him, so thank you!
They're straight run so we will see what I end up with, hopefully at least 4 hens and maybe a new rooster candidate.

How do you tell if your hens like your rooster? I've been watching for signs, mine seem pretty submissive around him, but they all hang out together. Sometimes I think they like him and sometimes I think they avoid him. What are some signs that you look for?
I don't want to make the decision to get rid of him until I can tell if it's just a numbers problem, or if they really don't like him.

Where do you buy your hen saddles? I think these are a great idea for my girls for now - not something that was on my radar so I appreciate the suggestion!

Sadly I am now down to only 2 hens - I had one pass away suddenly, I think she might have had a blockage or something. She seemed fine when I let them out in the morning and she had been gone for a while when I came back to shut them up at night. There was brownish fluid that had leaked out of her mouth. The only sign I noticed beforehand was that she would occasionally jerk her neck upwards, but she had been eating and drinking normally. I know it's normal to have losses but it is sad nonetheless. Everyone else seems healthy and normal.

Ontario Chick - I like the idea of putting him in the dog kennel beside the girls run to give them some relief - would you let him go back in the coop with them at night and just separate them again first thing or keep them totally separated? I'm thinking he won't bug them at night if they are together?

Kim Chick - Is it Bert or Bert Jr in your profile pic? Very handsome guy!

Lastly, what do you look for in a roo when deciding to keep him as a rooster? I ended up with 4 roos last year from my straight run chicks. The most bold, friendly one ended up attacking me, and then I decide to keep my current guy based on the fact that he was the biggest most beautiful of the remaining 3. Maybe this wasn't the best criteria. Are there any traits you look for that can help you choose a gentle rooster when they are young? Or do you have to let them grow up and see what they turn out like?

Thanks again (and sorry for the novel !!)

[kenya]

Your rooster does not sound aggressive he is just doing his job, he is breeding the hens which is what you want he is maybe breeding the hens too much but that is because you have too few hens. As he ages he will breed them less as his libeto decreases due to age but that might not happen till hes 2 or 3 years old. I would keep him just make your hens saddles or get more hens for him. You never know your next rooster may be an aggressive rooster with you.

[Jaye]

As for chicken saddles, you can either make your own (just google DIY hen saddles), or you can buy them off Etsy or Amazon. Etsy has some really creative designs.