help! New hen attacking cockerel

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hayls

hayls

In the Brooder
Apr 22, 2016
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Hey guys we are new to chicken keeping we had a hen and another bird meant to also be a hen turned out to be a cockerel. We decided to get 2 more new hens all silkies all are very similar age. We introduced them gradually all seemed fine. But one hen attacked our cockerel she really has a problem with him. He dosent fight back though he only started crowing every now n then a few weeks ago n hasn't developed 100% yet. His crow is more like a squeal. Anyone since this attack he won't eat or drink and seems really down. There was no blood or evidence of injury. She was jumping on his back n going for his head. We've separated them n not left them alone since. Buy we are worried he is gonna die. We don't understand how one fight has left him so listless. He was walking around fine last night but not eating or drinking. Today he's no better :(
 
Separating them was the best thing and if there's no visible injury he's just spooked.
I can only suggest to keep him in his own space with food and water till he's a little bigger. Monitor the amount of water/feed he has to see if he is indeed eating. Hopefully in a few wks or so he'll be ruling the coop like this never happened.
 
Thanks for the advice he is in a dog crate in the house but he is very listless still refusing all food n water we have managed to syringe him some water but he seems really bad. Is this normal? This bird was fine yesterday morning till the first attack I don't know if she hurt him more then we thought it's litrally like he has given up on life can't believe it we are so upset he is such a lovely bird we never dreamed bringing these 2 new hens in would kill him and I honestly doubt he will be with us tomorrow. Just hoping a night of rest in the warmth will help :(
 
hayls said:
Hey guys we are new to chicken keeping we had a hen and another bird meant to also be a hen turned out to be a cockerel. We decided to get 2 more new hens all silkies all are very similar age. We introduced them gradually all seemed fine. But one hen attacked our cockerel she really has a problem with him. He dosent fight back though he only started crowing every now n then a few weeks ago n hasn't developed 100% yet. His crow is more like a squeal. Anyone since this attack he won't eat or drink and seems really down. There was no blood or evidence of injury. She was jumping on his back n going for his head. We've separated them n not left them alone since. Buy we are worried he is gonna die. We don't understand how one fight has left him so listless. He was walking around fine last night but not eating or drinking. Today he's no better
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Do you have multiple feeders? It could be that the hen that attacked him is now the 'boss', and she won't let him near the feed. When introducing birds over 10 weeks old, you need to have lots and lots of space, and multiple food and water stations. Separation only makes the integration more difficult. It is also possible that the new birds brought in some sort of illness, or a new strain of coccidia that your cockerel hasn't been exposed to before.
 
He won't eat or drink no matter where he is unfortunately. We did think of that but he was 100% till the attack then she'll shocked after. No matter what we do he just can't seem to get over it he hasn't been right since that attack. He was perfectly fine before it so it could be a illness but seems odd he went downhill straight after that n it's like he has given up. We've kept him separate as we thought he would get attacked again. To be noted he had time with the other hen in the garden yesterday n today that he gets on well with. It's just such a dramatic difference from that attack it's shocking
 
The stress from having new birds introduced to the flock, combined with the stress from the attack could have compromised his immune system, leaving him susceptible to illness.
 
Yeah maybe it's heart breaking because we are very fond of him and if we had known it would be this bad we would never have got anymore. Just don't know what else we can do for him :(
 

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