Rooster chasing one hen

[silkienewbie93]

Hi everyone!

My rooster has been chasing one of my hens recently!

All of my chickens including the rooster have been raised together since day one. They are now a little over 2 years old. I have 1 rooster and 10 hens.

I noticed a few months ago that he kept chasing her out of the nesting box. For some reason he just didn’t want her in there. But as soon as she was out of the nesting box he would ignore her. I ended up adding curtains to the nesting box which seemed to resolve the issue for a little bit but yesterday I noticed the chasing was starting again. However, now he chases her all the time, not just when she’s in the nesting box.

He’s fine with all the other hens but any time he sees this one hen he chases her. When he does catch her he doesn’t try to mate, he just pecks her head.

She seems healthy to me. And I’ve had other sick/injured chickens before that he has never chased so I don’t think that’s it.

Is there anything I can do to chill him out? If necessary I can divide my flock in 2 to separate them, but I’m worried about having my rooster in with only 5 hens. Do you think this would work?

 

[Mrs. K]

I think I might just pull her, or set her up where she can either get away from him or out of his reach. I would watch carefully and see if he picks a new hen to chase. Sometimes I think the victim gives off the wrong vibe.

Several years ago, I read a post that I found most interesting, a person sectioned off the victim for several weeks - maybe even months. She calmed down, gained a little weight and some confidence. And eventually went back into the flock.

The thing is, being raised together really has almost no influence on the birds in the flock.

Mrs K

 

[silkienewbie93]

I feel bad separating her entirely because she gets along well with the rest of the flock.

I did have an issue with my rooster chasing my older silkie hens when he was about 6 months old but I figured it was a combination of his hormones going crazy and the silkies being skittish. I gave the silkies their own space and there has been peace since then. But now I’m wondering if he was the problem all along.

 

[lagrange chicks]

I have had the same thing here, mine were raised together also (22 weeks old). The pullet low in pecking order was being chased by the cockerel to the point she would hide in the coop at times. Now she is letting him mate her and seems to have stopped all that tension.