Does Mating Hurt The Hen?

[HannahL]

Hi all! So I recently got a 5 month old Rhode Island Red mix rooster named Harvey from a rescue. He’s a very sweet rooster. He’s nice with people and the hens and is not aggressive. I introduced him to the hens yesterday and they largely ignored him but he tried his best to win them over. Today, I was carrying the chickens back to the coop and he ended up being alone with my 1.5 year old Golden Laced Wyandotte hen, Poppy. Not surprisingly, he mated with her. However, she ran away and was squawking and looked quite traumatized after the whole ordeal. The look on her face was hilarious. But she’s a fairly small bird and Harvey is a BIG rooster. Easily two or three times her size. So I just wanted to make sure that he wasn’t hurting her because of the size difference. I have another hen, a Partridge Olive Egger named Jennie who is very very small. Probably no more than 3 pounds. He’s easily 8 pounds, maybe more. Would this large size difference hurt the hens’ backs or other parts of their bodies? Poppy seemed fine and was eating and drinking but I just wanted to make sure. The rooster to hen ratio is 1-5. All the hens are around the same size as Poppy except for a large Buff Brahma hen that I have. Thanks so much in advance to anyone who replies!

 

[Acre4Me]

Pullets and hens squat for mating, so their legs and bodies are fine. Sometimes many feathers are pulled out over repeated matings from the neck (male grabs onto these for balance), or from the hens sides due to males feet on the back. But this is over very repetitive matings.

also, it would be unlikely that your 5 month old RIR male is 10 lbs at this age. I think standard weight for an RIR full grown rooster is approx 8-9 lbs, recalling from memory.

 

[HannahL]

Pullets and hens squat for mating, so their legs and bodies are fine. Sometimes many feathers are pulled out over repeated matings from the neck (male grabs onto these for balance), or from the hens sides due to males feet on the back. But this is over very repetitive matings.

also, it would be unlikely that your 5 month old RIR male is 10 lbs at this age. I think standard weight for an RIR full grown rooster is approx 8-9 lbs, recalling from memory.

Thanks for replying! And yeah I just weighed him. Turns out he’s 8 pounds. Still pretty big for his age but not quite 10 haha. I think I thought he was bigger because of the size difference between him and the hens. Thanks again!

 

[Acre4Me]

Thanks for replying! And yeah I just weighed him. Turns out he’s 8 pounds. Still pretty big for his age but not quite 10 haha. I think I thought he was bigger because of the size difference between him and the hens. Thanks again!

yes, I understand. I have a black Jersey Giant. He’s huge compared to the hens. I haven’t weighed him recently, but at just nearly a year old he was 11 lbs (coulda sworn he was Heavier based on looks). now full grown, but molting. I should weigh him again just out of curiosity.

 

[50-45-1]

I have a standard size americana rooster and 12 hens, 2 of them small japenese bantams.
This summer one of the japs hatched out some of her and her sisters jap hens eggs.
They all hatched. I have not had a bantam rooster for 3 years.
It kind of funny as the buff bantam hen (sweetness) is one of my roosters (ringo) favorites and you will find them ranging together.
Roosters can and do absouletly hurt hens sometimes. Some roosters are unnecessarily rough with the mating act. Others hurt hen by accident when there spurs are not trimed back.
I think your hen will be fine.