Please help! Rooster attacking hen(s)

[Chickassan]

@austintexasredhead ,You've made a hard but very good decision and I commend you for looking out for the good of your flock. Well done, and I'm sorry you had to lose a looker.

 

[getaclue]

austin, I agree with Chickassan, you made a very hard, but very good decision. I'm sorry you had to lose him. Don't give up. There are quite a few good roosters out there in need of a good home, and good hens.

 

[austintexasredhead]

I don't often advise anyone to cull members of their flock without trying to correct behavior, but in this case, cull immediately. No, he was NOT showing normal cock/cockerel/rooster behavior. Yes, inexperienced cockerels are a bit rough until they learn, that's normal, but the majority will not say their roosters were as abusive as yours.

He has been culled. Yeah, forcibly removing the eyeball of one of his hens is a bit more than rough isn't it? It's just so weird, everyone was getting along fine three days ago...... Thank you for your response and advice, it is appreciated

 

[austintexasredhead]

@austintexasredhead ,You've made a hard but very good decision and I commend you for looking out for the good of your flock. Well done, and I'm sorry you had to lose a looker.

Thank you for your concern - I appreciate the kind words.

 

[KathryninQuebec]

He's pretty but so was Ted Bundy. It stinks when the handsome ones are rotten.

 

[austintexasredhead]

I am so very sorry that it came this, and I am sorry that your hens have been injured. It really is hard to find information about roosters, but, there is one here on BYC that you may like to read.

Here is the link.
www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-ever-misunderstood-rooster.72932/

Thanks for the article! But now I feel somewhat guilty for culling him...lol. I agree that I need to educate myself on roosters if I want to have one in the future.

 

[austintexasredhead]

He's pretty but so was Ted Bundy. It stinks when the handsome ones are rotten.

 

[getaclue]

austin, don't feel guilty. I currently have 5 roosters. I kept one every year from the ones I've hatched. Like I said, I rarely advise anyone to cull for behavioral issues, without trying to first work on it, but in this case you did the right thing. Had it been 1 hen he disliked (even then he was more brutal than was tolerable) then when she was removed, he would have settled down, and been good with his other flockmates. He did not. He picked another one to abuse. This was more than a personality clash. It would have been cruel to let him continue to abuse the females like that. None of mine abuse the females like that, ever. Again, I know it's not pleasant when we have to dispatch one, but in this case, it was needed. Start thinking about your beautiful replacement for him.

 

[bobbi-j]

Thanks for the article! But now I feel somewhat guilty for culling him...lol. I agree that I need to educate myself on roosters if I want to have one in the future.

Do not feel guilty. It needed to be done. There is nothing wrong with culling (although that does not always equal "killing" - "culling" just means to remove from the flock or herd whether through butchering, selling or giving away). That bird would have been in my freezer ASAP after beating up your hen that way. You are the flock keeper, and you are the only one who can decide how much you want to put up with before removing such a bird from the flock, but I think you did the right thing. Why subject your hens to more abuse than necessary while trying to "train" him? I haven't read the article, but think I will now to see what made you feel guilty...

 

[bobbi-j]

austin, don't feel guilty. I currently have 5 roosters. I kept one every year from the ones I've hatched. Like I said, I rarely advise anyone to cull for behavioral issues, without trying to first work on it, but in this case you did the right thing. Had it been 1 hen he disliked (even then he was more brutal than was tolerable) then when she was removed, he would have settled down, and been good with his other flockmates. He did not. He picked another one to abuse. This was more than a personality clash. It would have been cruel to let him continue to abuse the females like that. None of mine abuse the females like that, ever. Again, I know it's not pleasant when we have to dispatch one, but in this case, it was needed. Start thinking about your beautiful replacement for him.