We have 19 chickens - 16 hens and 3 roosters, all about one year old. They all free-range. Of the roosters, we have one large Barred Rock, Chicken Little, who is docile causing no trouble with people or the hens. We then have two Rhode Island Reds, Alfalfa and Boo. Boo is the smallest rooster and a sneaky attacker. We've been working on the situation for awhile without making any headway; his current plan is to either be re-homed or culled. Alfalfa is a large rooster and has very good mannerisms, he doesn't attack people, he takes care of his hens, and he scolds Boo if/when he comes after us. However, Alfalfa has developed a strong desire to mate which is not working out well for hens. I never see Boo or Chicken Little mount the hens as Alfalfa too quickly chases them away. The hens, particularly the favorites and the smaller hens, are have broken and missing feathers on their back near their tail. Affected areas are larger on the smaller birds including the back of their wings.
This, unfortunately, took a couple weeks to figure out as we have never had chickens before. Initially I thought they were molting but noticed the pattern wasn't right. Everyone has been checked for mites and lice. There are likely some mice in the coop but the roosters haven't been bothered at all and given their larger feathers and the amount of broken feathers on the hens, I've ruled that out. I've observed closely and they aren't pecking at each other.
He's a good rooster so if I can break him of this, I'd love to keep him; but if not, then clearly I can't. We are hoping to get more chicks next month which might even the numbers some but I don't feel comfortable leaving him in jail for an extended amount of time, and the top to our jail doubles as the top to our brooder, so I'll be needing it. I have too many hens to put aprons on them all, and too many predators to feel comfortable doing that. I have neither time nor funds to build a bachelor pad for long-term separation.
If I separate him for a few days-a few weeks, will that fix the problem? Or do some roosters simply have stronger desires to procreate than others? Does anyone have any other suggestions?
For the girls, I've gone back to using apple cider (just in case), giving extra black oil sunflower seeds for protein, observing their irritated backs daily to ensure there are no wounds or changes. Poor things!
This, unfortunately, took a couple weeks to figure out as we have never had chickens before. Initially I thought they were molting but noticed the pattern wasn't right. Everyone has been checked for mites and lice. There are likely some mice in the coop but the roosters haven't been bothered at all and given their larger feathers and the amount of broken feathers on the hens, I've ruled that out. I've observed closely and they aren't pecking at each other.
He's a good rooster so if I can break him of this, I'd love to keep him; but if not, then clearly I can't. We are hoping to get more chicks next month which might even the numbers some but I don't feel comfortable leaving him in jail for an extended amount of time, and the top to our jail doubles as the top to our brooder, so I'll be needing it. I have too many hens to put aprons on them all, and too many predators to feel comfortable doing that. I have neither time nor funds to build a bachelor pad for long-term separation.
If I separate him for a few days-a few weeks, will that fix the problem? Or do some roosters simply have stronger desires to procreate than others? Does anyone have any other suggestions?
For the girls, I've gone back to using apple cider (just in case), giving extra black oil sunflower seeds for protein, observing their irritated backs daily to ensure there are no wounds or changes. Poor things!