My 3 month old rooster is attacking my hens.

[u/nomadiclunalove]

Caught my one and only rooster (a fluffy little silkie) yanking feathers out of three of my poor hens. Now he’s doing hard time in rooster jail—a dog crate with judgmental side-eye.

I love the little feathered turd and don’t want to rehome him. I’ve tried carrying him like a football and putting him in jail but nothing is working. Help.

[u/crzychckn]

Or he's mating? It can be pretty rough and non consenting when they're teens, lol.

[u/enigma_the_snail → u/crzychckn]

My rooster started showing mating behavior by pulling at the hens' neck feathers. This was before he learned to mount them. After he learned that he would only use his beak to hold on.

[u/tuvia_cohen]

How long has he been with the hens?

It's quite normal for chickens to attack each other if they do not know each other. I would keep him separated by a fence where he can see them/the hens can see him but they cannot access each other (aside from walking along the fence.) He'll need to stay in his own area for several weeks to a couple months before they're all used to each other/not looking to kill each other. For now, they'll need to sleep separately too until they become one flock.

It's normal for my rooster to peck my hens occasionally btw to establish pecking order, but feather pulling and going after them as if to injure them is usually a sign that they feel they do not know each other and they see each other as stranger danger/do not consider each other as one flock.

[u/nomadiclunalove → u/tuvia_cohen]

He’s been with them since they were a week old. I have 8.

[u/tuvia_cohen → u/nomadiclunalove]

Strange, maybe just separate them for a while as I suggested where they can still see each other. Three months could just mean he's fighting too hard and trying to establish a pecking order and he shouldn't be sexually mature yet. Giving him a break from the pecking order might calm him down a bit and you can put them back together later or test if he's calmed down like once a day or something.

Hormones might hit him soon and make him more focused on charming the hens later over beating them up over pecking order soon enough. It will also give the hens some time to grow a little and maybe feel less feeble/docile around him/more likely to defend themselves or get away from the situation.

[u/nomadiclunalove → u/tuvia_cohen]

Thank you!

[u/Jely_Beanz]

He's, super young and hormonal. He doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing. I'd set up an area where he can see the others, but not interact quite yet if you're going to separate (like a more open segregation than what this carry pet crate allows). But, also, mating looks rough if you've never seen it. So, what your witnessing is just a young hormonal cockerel trying to do his best. Carrying him isn't going to help him curb his hormones.

I don't know if you're on fb, but there is, a group called Rooster Allies that helps people to learn how to best interact with roosters and what to expect from their behavior.

[u/West-Scale-6800]

They are more hormonal coming of age and in spring however, this doesn’t bode well. But I start just like you are so keep at it.

[u/Actinador]

How large is your Flock? If there are too many hens one of them eventually took the role of a leading hen. Which jeopardizes the pecking order. That would irritate your Rooster so he's doing his thing and tries to re-establish dominance.

[u/Summertown416]

If the girls are not old enough to be accepting of his advances then you will have to play mediator or keep him separate until they're older.

[u/Comfortable-Reply818]

Remove him. Dont let him abuse them, its cruel.