I've owned chickens for over 20 years, so I'm not a newbie by any stretch. I currently have a mixed flock of 20 hens and one Buff Orpington Rooster. They are free-range from about noon on, when I let them out.
For about a year now I've had on Speckled Sussex that my rooster has turned on and started attacking. The first time he danged near killed her. She was a bloody mess! Much of the feathers on her head have never grown back as it's mostly scar tissue.
It's the craziest thing I've seen. He goes out of his way to attack her even though when she sees him coming she lies down submissively. He doesn't try to mate her, just pecks the crap out of her head. He does this to no other hens, just her. Bizzare!
Now the morning routine is to let her out by herself. She waits in the hen house or up on top of the outdoor nest boxes where the rooster can't get to her. The rest of the flock stay in the run.
When she sees me coming to let the flock out around noon she hightails it to the fence and jumps over since the rooster either can't or doesn't feel like jumping over the fence.
I don't know what the deal is. Like I said, been going on for close to a year. It's kind of pitiful because she basically has to spend all her time by herself except to roost. I don't figure there's a remedy. It's just a head scratcher...
For about a year now I've had on Speckled Sussex that my rooster has turned on and started attacking. The first time he danged near killed her. She was a bloody mess! Much of the feathers on her head have never grown back as it's mostly scar tissue.
It's the craziest thing I've seen. He goes out of his way to attack her even though when she sees him coming she lies down submissively. He doesn't try to mate her, just pecks the crap out of her head. He does this to no other hens, just her. Bizzare!
Now the morning routine is to let her out by herself. She waits in the hen house or up on top of the outdoor nest boxes where the rooster can't get to her. The rest of the flock stay in the run.
When she sees me coming to let the flock out around noon she hightails it to the fence and jumps over since the rooster either can't or doesn't feel like jumping over the fence.
I don't know what the deal is. Like I said, been going on for close to a year. It's kind of pitiful because she basically has to spend all her time by herself except to roost. I don't figure there's a remedy. It's just a head scratcher...
