Young rooster gives pullets a leg up

At four months old, our Australorp rooster was still bottom of the pecking order, being chased away from the choice food by all and sundry.  Two weeks later, he went through a growth spurt, exceeded the ladies in size, started to crow regularly, and took the lead.

Next youngest in the laying flock (and next lowest on the totem pole) were our three Cuckoo Marans pullets, around five and a half months old.  I was intrigued to see that as the rooster surpassed them in size (but while he was still smaller than the other hens), the Marans turned into his harem.  Rather than changing his affections when he struck it rich, our rooster still seems to prefer roosting with the Marans, which has increased their value to the flock.  No longer do the Marans get chased away from the food by those bossy Australorp hens, and the White Cochin (once queen of the flock) now plays second fiddle.

I know, this is the same story I told last year about our gentleman rooster, repeated with different characters.  I wonder if adding a younger rooster to a divided flock is a sure way of raising the self esteem of the most picked on birds?

Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed.