Hen battling Rooster for dominance

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plottster

plottster

In the Brooder
Feb 10, 2016
10
2
26
Deerfield NH
So my boss hen Smiley, who has for the last 1 ½ years been the uncontested heavy weight champ of the coop is now being challenged by my young rooster. All the other hens gave in without much of a struggle but Smiley is refusing to give up the belt. This weekend there were several battles that were very intense leaving both Smiley and Gator bloody (he was the worse for wear). I swear she thinks she is a rooster the way she was fighting. She currently is still boss but I am a bit fearful of more battles. Anyone ever have this happen and how long could it go on? I don’t think she has any plans to just hand over the reins but I don’t want the battling to continue.
 
She will be very reluctant to relinquish her position at the top of the pecking order, but eventually he will probably win. Sometimes when this happens a rooster will make such a hen his 'target' and work at forcing her from the flock. Rather than viewing her as a mate, he may view her as competition.
 
I am worried about him targeting her now and forcing her out of the flock. He has his favorite girls and has never to my knowledge tried anything with the leghorns. He seems to like the bigger girls (EE, Wyandotte, Buff Orphinton) but then again they are the less dominant ones too. I want the girls to be protected when I’m not around and also want the fertile eggs/chic’s experience but not at the cost of losing my favorite chicken. I will just have to keep an eye on things to ensure they don’t go too far…Thanks for the response
 
plottster said:
I am worried about him targeting her now and forcing her out of the flock. He has his favorite girls and has never to my knowledge tried anything with the leghorns. He seems to like the bigger girls (EE, Wyandotte, Buff Orphinton) but then again they are the less dominant ones too. I want the girls to be protected when I’m not around and also want the fertile eggs/chic’s experience but not at the cost of losing my favorite chicken. I will just have to keep an eye on things to ensure they don’t go too far…Thanks for the response
Click to expand...
If you can put the Roo in a look but dont touch pen while your not around to protect them. He will not get at your favourite hen that way and she will keep her position in the flock.
 

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