Roo attacking neighbor's hens

[Winters Witch]

Hi all...I am very sad to check in with some grave news. Tomorrow my beloved EE roo is going to the pot. He just recently matured, and isn't even a year old yet. My problem is that he has started going over to my neighbors flock (we have adjoining yards) and attacking the dominant hens. He not just only rapes them (by rape i mean they try to run away when he presents to them, and he will chase them down and rather forcefully mate). The day before yesterday, I saw him purposefully hunt 1 of them down (he ignored all the other perfectly mate-able hens) and present to her. she rejected him, and he attacked her like he would another rooster. he flew up, landed on her head with his feet, leapt up into the again and again, each time landing on her head. She was terrified and cowered on the ground in the stupor, while I ran over and threw my daughter's toy at him to get him off. She was stunned, and lay on the ground, in a cowering position for 15-20 minutes after the attack. He did it again yesterday, and today i kept him penned up.

He does not do this to my hens, nor does he do it to the other less dominant hens. I don't know what to do, and I held him for the last time tonight as i quietly cried and said my last good byes. So far, he is not people-aggressive, but I don't know if he will become that way. Worst thing is, I had a chick injured, and she was nearly blinded. She has a very close bond to this rooster, and I am afraid that when he gets culled, she will be very depressed to lose her nest mate. they have never been separated since i brought them home. I am sad for her, and I am sad for my beautiful roo.

Do i have any hope?

 

[sourland]

Keep him out of your neighbor's yard and all will be fine. He is trying to prove his dominancce over your neighbor's flock. Denied access, he can do no harm.

 

[Bunnylady]

Your rooster doesn't understand things like your property lines and which birds are yours and which your neighbors. As the only male present, he believes all the hens are his to claim, and is only nasty to the hens that have the audacity to refuse him. He doesn't treat your hens like that, because they already acknowledge his dominance. If your neighbor had a rooster, he of course would be fighting with him, until the two family groups had worked out their own territories.

As Sour said, keep your boy home, and there won't be a problem.

 

[leadwolf1]

Keep him out of your neighbor's yard and all will be fine. He is trying to prove his dominancce over your neighbor's flock. Denied access, he can do no harm.

Very good advice. Why kill him when you can just keep him at home?

 

[Winters Witch]

As I said in my orginal post, we have adjoining yards. There is no fence and a fence would me acres of fence. I kept him cooped up in my little chicken tractor and he throws himself against the welded wire, trying to escape to get at the ladies. It's not fair to him, while they all get to free range, he must stay locked up.

I know he's trying to assert his dominance, and he's going to hurt someone.

 

[leadwolf1]

You need to do what you think best. I will just relate what I did to solve the problem. I fenced in a large "run' for the chickens. That way, they could free range and all would be safe. I didn't fence my entire property, just enough to keep everyone happy. In my case, it was because of the neighbors dogs that aren't fenced.

 

[Vickilynn45]

You need to do what you think best. I will just relate what I did to solve the problem. I fenced in a large "run' for the chickens. That way, they could free range and all would be safe. I didn't fence my entire property, just enough to keep everyone happy. In my case, it was because of the neighbors dogs that aren't fenced.

This is what I was thinking too. Couldn't you fence off a large area, it wouldn't have to be the entire property- just enough to make everyone happy. That way you wouldn't have to cull him.