Rooster pecking hens tail feathers ?

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amylu717

amylu717

In the Brooder
Apr 5, 2016
12
1
26
I have 24 chickens 2 are rooster that i know of this far. They are 12 weeks old. One of our roosters "Randy" will go around and peck all of the others tail feathers, they will squawk and at first we thought it was kind of funny, no big deal, but he just seems to be getting worse we noticed yesterday one of our hens had a huge wound where he has pecked her so badly, we immediately put her in a dog kennel so he couldnt get to her and got some spray to spray on the wound. Any ideas what i can do to get our rooster to stop this? Is this normal? I really have grown attached to my chickens over the paat 12 weeks and would like to keep our rooster around if possible.
 
Welcome to BYC!

I would lock up/isolate the tail picker, not the victims.

Soon the cockerels (not cocks or 'roosters' until one year of age) will be seriously fighting for dominance and trying to mate the pullets. It's not pretty and can be bloody, as you've already seen. The excessive picking could be a sign of the stress that comes with a dominance struggle...multiple males often make them behave their worst.

You'll need to decide if you want to keep one or either of the males.
Attached as you may be, dealing with male livestock is sometimes not for the faint hearted.
 
I have since locked up the rooster only reason i did the victim was so that the other chickens wouldnt peck her wound. Everything i read said that was likely. I guess i will likely have to choose a rooster. We very likely have more than 2, only timenwill tell....:/
 

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