Stinky hen

[Share34]

I am very new to chickens. I bought some at the local farmer store at the beginning of December and everything has been going great until recently. First I have 4 hens and 2 roosters. One rooster is a bani and the other is just a larger breed, the larger breed rooster will pick on a hen I got from the same ben. Idk if she won't submit to him or if he is just being a teenager. He chasers her until she has no where to go, latches onto her neck feathers and she will just scream. I've read about locking him up to see if he stops but is this normal behavior for their age?

My second question. The same hen he has been chasing I just noticed today has a very awful smell, I am not sure where the smell is coming from, maybe the shoulder to head area. Any idea what this might be?

Thank you in advance

 

[RodNTN]

I am glad you joined us! But I am sorry about your aggressive rooster and hen! Is she squatting when he approaches? If not, she probably isn't submitting. But I'm not sure about the smell

I would check this forum out:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/18/chicken-behaviors-and-egglaying

And the Learning Center is very helpful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

And remember to check out the Where am I? Where are you? Forum: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you

I hope you enjoy BYC and find what your looking for! Best wishes and best of luck!

 

[animalgrl]

How does her crop feel? Could she have sour crop? Is she eating/drinking/eliminating OK? I'm assuming you would see it if she did, but is it possible that she has an open wound of some sort, maybe cause by the rooster, that is infected and smelly? I don't know, I'm just throwing ideas out.

 

[Share34]

She does not squat, she just runs for it as soon as he approaches her. Will she ever submit if that's her problem?

Ya all behaviors from the hen are normal. I do not see any concerns with the crop. I checked the best I could under her feathers and do not see any injuries or anything that looks to be infected.

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under Share34

Welcome!

I remembered reading a post late last year about a hen that smelled but it kind of went off track. However, you might still want to check it out: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1146292/my-hen-is-skinny-and-smells

I hope you are able to determine what the issue is.

I also hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

If you would like to share pictures and stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, Share34, and

! Pleased you joined our community! Teila and RodNTN gave you tons of great links to explore so I will just say best wishes and thanks for joining BYC!

 

[N F C]

 

[drumstick diva]

Four hens and 2 roosters is asking for major trouble. A rooster can handle 10 hens. You would need 20 hens for the 2 roosters. So your girls will get severely overbred and physically damaged like your stinky hen. The ones that don't hide and don't fight a rooster off are the ones that get all the problems. There is a chance your rooster has caused some wounds on her and I'm thinking either they got infected (and smell) or depending on your climate, it flies are out, they lay eggs in the wounds. The resulting maggots, will attack live tissue if they run out of dead tissue. They can also cause much more damage than the original wound.

Please check your hen out well for that. If she has any puncture wounds those tend to infect readily. If you don't need fertile eggs for hatching or for selling, there is really no need for any rooster. Your hens would be much less stressed and in better condition without any roos. They will lay just as many eggs without one, but, infertile.

For now please put your roosters in a bachelor pen away from the hens - so your poor hen will heal.