moody cockerel

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We have a leghorn cockerel who seems to be getting more cantankerous as he gets older! He free ranges with two leghorn and two rhode island hens and until a few months ago all was calm and quiet. However throughout the summer his behaviour has changed. He chases off the two leghorn hens at feeding times and is quite aggressive towards them if they come back before he has moved away from the food. These two hens have become more nervous and flighty and aren't laying as well as usual.
He must be at least 6 years old and is the first cockerel we have kept. Is it usual for a cockerel to change behaviour wise as he gets older does anyone know? Is there anything we can do to make feed time less stressful for the hens? We have trying to feed them away from the cockerel but he seems to have caught on and comes over to shoo them away! We have warned him he is on borrowed time if he doesn't snap out of it!

oh dear !! shame they don't understand us when we talk to them ?! it sounds like they've had a falling out ... happens to the best of us ! maybe some time apart might help - can you take the two hens out for a couple of days ?! are they friendly enough to do that !? ( I don't mean take then to town ! lol or to the pub !! ) might be easier to move them for a bit than him ?! I'll watch this space with interest !!!

A suprelorin implant might be worth a try. Talk to your vet.

Thanks lizzabadger will look into that but I think my vet will think I am barking if I ask about a cockerel! We have removed him from the hens this weekend to see if they settle without him. It's quite difficult because they free range and none of the birds are used to being restricted. I don't want to stress any of them unduly as I think it's bordering on cruel.
All the local advice is 'put him in the pot' usually followed with ' we've got a nice young cockerel you can have'
I would like to add 2 or 3 younger hens to the flock but don't want to cause anymore upset.

TBH at 6 he is probably just feeling his age moody bastard. My cockerels start getting really grumpy from 5 onwards. My solution is to put em in the pot but I'm a country person

You need a chicken-friendly vet then. There is a list on the Omlet forum.

Veterinary care is just as important for chickens as for other animals so I am not sure why your vet would be sniffy, though.

My 6-year-old hen is a total grump but she's been like that since she was tiny.

Duchesse I think this is how the story will end. I wasn't sure whether his change in mood is 'normal' ageing if you see what I mean. Thanks for the reply

Lizzabadger I guess it's a question of perspective balancing the stress of catching a transporting a nervous bird some distance against the potential merits of the outcome of treatment.
In any case that's academic for my circumstances, I live in northern isles so cannot access chicken friendly vets as you describe.

yes I have seen this happen over the years to cockerels. 6 is a good age. normally they would have been knocked off of top spot by a younger rival - our top cockerel only remains so for a couple of years before being sidelined by a new one (we have a large number of chickens) sorry but I think you either put up with him like this or hmm hmm move him on.

I am a soft touch and I put him back with the girls. Things have settled down this week and he isn't chasing any of them off. We haven't had great weather this week and the temperature has definitely dropped which may or may not have something to do with it! Anyway as long as Mr Nice Guy remains he will be fine.