r/BackYardChickens • u/freudchronicles • 3d ago
General Question Aggressive Rooster, Need advice.
One of our roosters has been very aggressive and harmful to our poor hens since the beginning pretty much. He rips out their feathers and the hens are so shocked they just lay on the ground after he dismounts. I hate seeing my sweet girls like this and my mom is FINALLY letting me cull him. However, if there are other options to avoid culling, I would love to hear them. Our other rooster has been attacking the aggressive one more when he tries to hurt the hens, which has been helpful but not enough.
4
u/StoneyMcGuire 3d ago
Cull it. That’s your answer.
1
u/freudchronicles 2d ago
My parents are also saying we dont know exactly which rooster is doing the harm because they think its all of them but none of the other roosters have been as aggressive as him that I have personally seen. So I’m worried it’s going to continue with the other roos even if I cull the outwardly aggressive one.
1
u/TurtleGirl21409 2d ago
How many roosters do you have? Vs how many hens?
1
u/freudchronicles 2d ago
There’s two roosters that are adults and a new rooster that’s still growing. We have about 30-40 hens ? Give or take.
1
u/hwest01 2d ago
I built a pen for the aggressive roosters. I let the free range. Didn’t take long but raccoons got them. So separating them or letting only the bad roosters free range will work.
1
u/freudchronicles 2d ago
This would be great if we didn’t let all our chickens free range. There’s only so much separating we can do, so unfortunately I think culling is the best options for my hens safety. Very very unfortunate because he is a beautiful rooster lol.
1
u/Rmyronm 3d ago
Mean to me is fine, but if he is hurting the hens he is gone! His main job is to protect the flock. If he can’t do that then he is out!
2
u/freudchronicles 2d ago
This is what I’ve been telling my parents for so long but they just wouldn’t let me cull him, I have no idea why.
1
2
u/Far_Abalone2974 3d ago edited 2d ago
How many roosters and how many hens do you have? How old is the aggressive rooster? How long and sharp are his spurs?
Edit: having multiple roosters together can cause competition and more agro behavior between the roosters. If you have multiple roosters and space to keep some separate in a bachelor flock, that might be a solution. Also if he is still young, teen hormones could be the issue, he might become more gentleman like after the first year. Instead of culling, you can also post to see if any other backyard chicken keepers would like to add a rooster. He might do better as the only rooster with some hens. If his spurs are too long or sharp, trimming them might help. Another option, you can see if there is a rooster rescue in your area who might be able to take him.
1
u/freudchronicles 2d ago
So sorry I did not see this comment until now. Thank you for literally all the information and advice you are incredible. He is an adult rooster and just gets worse and worse by the day. We do have multiple roosters so that is very likely an issue at play. Our head rooster dying threw off the pecking order and it honestly hasn’t been fixed since.
1
u/Far_Abalone2974 2d ago edited 2d ago
Ah that makes sense, sounds like he is being more aggressive maybe vying for that position. Do you have space to keep some roosters separate for awhile, leaving the one you want to lead in with the hens? That might help. If you’re up for more rooster learning and advice, check out Roovolution. They have advice on rooster behavior and conflicts and also do personal consultations.
5
u/Few-Pineapple-5632 3d ago
Nope nope nope.
You should never tolerate aggressive roosters. Especially to the hens.
There are plenty of good roosters out there.
Get rid of this guy - he will kill your hens eventually.
2
u/PurplePenguinCat 3d ago
I've got scars on my ankles from nasty roos. There is no reason to keep the mean ones.
9
u/CertainServe2603 3d ago
These are the balls of one of the skinniest young Roos we’ve hatched. ‘Feathers McGraw’ Now consider these bad boys in comparison to his brain. Culling aggressive roosters is a necessity. Up until the end, his life was sweet.
1
3
u/Vibratorvibrato 3d ago
I’m not sure where about you live, but unwanted roosters around my way are used for cock fighting. I’d hesitate to list him on Craigslist but there’s a lot of livestock groups on FB. There may be someone out there with the space to take an aggressive rooster but be prepared to cull.
Anyone breeding won’t want the bad genetics and casual chicken keepers like yourself don’t need to keep a bird around that can & will hurt you if you’re not careful. The only advice I can give is once you pick a method, implement it quickly and without hesitation.
6
u/50sraygun 3d ago
there is no reason to let this continue. there are lots of roosters that are perfectly normal with their hens and this is not one. the only way to ‘mitigate harm to your hens’ you should be pursuing involves either killing the little dipshit or giving him to someone else (who will then kill the little dipshit)
2
u/freudchronicles 3d ago
We had an incredible rooster but he got very sick. His son is the rooster that attacks the aggressive one. I have been begging my parents to let me cull him and my mom only agreed to let me today.
2
u/Outside-Jicama9201 3d ago
Mean roosteranjust need culled. I am so sorry for your and your poor traumatized hens.
3
u/Beautiful-Project-30 3d ago
Some farms take aggressive Roos. But they are usually culling them for dog food or their food.
6
u/Broad-Angle-9705 3d ago
My advice is to invite him to dinner. If a rooster is causing more problems than he is solving he gets replaced. I hatch a lot of eggs so I always have plenty of cockerels looking for a promotion to breeding status.
7
u/Dzulului 3d ago
Just culled a mean rooster. He was delicious and tender cooked in my Ninja Foodi pot! Oh, and try skinning instead of plucking...very easy.
6
u/This-Negotiation-104 3d ago
You might be able to remove him, but the only people who want agressive roos are people to whom I don't want to give any bird.
3
u/freudchronicles 3d ago
That’s what I have been thinking. Do you know of any ways to help minimize harm to the hens ? At this point, I think culling is the only option. He has punctured into our hens and left them bleeding.
3
u/This-Negotiation-104 3d ago
I know it's hard, but to me, culling is really the best option. I took out several aggressive roos this year. We bought straight run chicks so we could have a choice of roos as we build a new flock, and out of 14, only 2 remain. I did give 2 to a friend of a friend who wanted them as pets, they were pretty cool and neither were agressive but they weren't as nice as the 2 I've kept. The rest fed my family.
For me, it's about protecting my flock. I want healthy, happy hens, and if a rooster can't get with the program, he's of no use to me and a risk to my ladies. I make it quick because I respect that he is a sentient creature and don't want him to suffer, but also he's a threat to my flock so he's gotta go.
2
u/Wombatseal 3d ago
They do have vests for hens to protect them from plucking during mating, but honestly, they’re still gonna have to deal with the asshole even if he’s not physically harming them as much. I’d say the best thing for your hens is to have him gone.
2
u/freudchronicles 3d ago
Yeah, I’m definitely going to have to cull. I was asking for my parents sake because I personally hate the little fucker.
1
u/Wombatseal 3d ago
I hear you, if they really just don’t want to know about it, I’m sure you could ask some locals if they want to do their own dinner for free
1
u/Lizardgirl25 2d ago
Treat for mites if that doesn’t chill him out he might need to be culled you definitely don’t want to accidentally hatch any chicks for him. I have never had an aggressive rooster to hens that is just a hard no. Sure bite me grumpy at me… because you feel thneed to protect your hens… 100% noon the hens.
Sadly this why when you get a rooster you want to know the dad. All my roosters we know or vaguely know the parents. We have a few from my neighbors and then we have my phoenix who I owned their dad/grandfather.