Why did my rooster kill all my hens??

[wyoming wonder]

I was outside in the coop. I noticed my rooster cornering one of my hens pecking at the back of her neck. There are no predictors because I right now keep them in the chicken house.
I kept watching him. He kept going after this hen trapping her in every spot she was in. He was not trying to saddle her just cornering her pecking at her neck.
In the last three months I found 2 hens ( great layers) dead in their house. No marks or blood on them just laying there dead. 4 weeks ago I found a dead hen with the back of the neck torn you could see the neck bone. Another good layer.
This morning I spent an hour and a half in the chicken house. I shooed him away from my hen with a stick because he comes after me trying to spur me.
Why is my rooster being so aggressive killing off my hens and coming after me.
I raised all of these chickens from pulleys, him to. He's becoming a problem rooster. Please help me I don't want to loose any more hens.

 

[roosterhavoc]

I was outside in the coop. I noticed my rooster cornering one of my hens pecking at the back of her neck. There are no predictors because I right now keep them in the chicken house.
I kept watching him. He kept going after this hen trapping her in every spot she was in. He was not trying to saddle her just cornering her pecking at her neck.
In the last three months I found 2 hens ( great layers) dead in their house. No marks or blood on them just laying there dead. 4 weeks ago I found a dead hen with the back of the neck torn you could see the neck bone. Another good layer.
This morning I spent an hour and a half in the chicken house. I shooed him away from my hen with a stick because he comes after me trying to spur me.
Why is my rooster being so aggressive killing off my hens and coming after me.
I raised all of these chickens from pulleys, him to. He's becoming a problem rooster. Please help me I don't want to loose any more hens.

If I were you I’d kill the rooster. Simple fix.

 

[termeerchick]

Went to feed and water my chickens yesterday and I found 5 dead hens a couple with heads off. Check cage no Predators have gotten in. My rooster had what looked like blood around beak area. The rest of them seemed calm . Checked back a few times last night all seemed well.
Went out this morning 5 'more dead ones few with heads off again my ofther rooster is beat up bad and more blood around the beak of the other.
I have cage him up now ( husband says there's dinner)
I know we will have to get rid of him but would like to figure out what happened. Never had a problem at all before with him. He is actually probably one of the friendliest ones in the coop.
What happened

A raccoon stuck his hands through my coop and killed one of my chickens and ripped her head off. It was so sad. He did it the day before we had planned to put up the extra siding on the coop to keep them from reaching in. Do you have it covered with something that predators can’t reach in?

 

[termeerchick]

To the OP, almost certainly a weasel or one of the cousins. One of the worst is the tiny little Least Weasel. They can climb or dig and can go through holes the size of chicken wire.

This from Illinois, but the same applies anywhere they are found:

https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/conservation/wildlife/Pages/LeastWeasel.aspx

When they go at a victim, they get on their back and bite at the back of the head and neck, so it looks like heads ripped off. They also go into a frenzy and attack what moves, which is why they often kill several at a time, if not all of them. If they don't get them all at once, they work a territory, so may be back. Apparently yours has already come back twice.

Trapping them takes a bit of skill. You can use a wooden rat trap by itself, but it will work better in a weasel box trap. Google those or look at Youtube.

Do you also have any kind of an issue with rats or mice hanging around?

To the OP, almost certainly a weasel or one of the cousins. One of the worst is the tiny little Least Weasel. They can climb or dig and can go through holes the size of chicken wire.

This from Illinois, but the same applies anywhere they are found:

https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/conservation/wildlife/Pages/LeastWeasel.aspx

When they go at a victim, they get on their back and bite at the back of the head and neck, so it looks like heads ripped off. They also go into a frenzy and attack what moves, which is why they often kill several at a time, if not all of them. If they don't get them all at once, they work a territory, so may be back. Apparently yours has already come back twice.

Trapping them takes a bit of skill. You can use a wooden rat trap by itself, but it will work better in a weasel box trap. Google those or look at Youtube.

Do you also have any kind of an issue with rats or mice hanging around?

what does OP stand for? Lol I’m new to BYC and was wondering what it stands for.

 

[Mr Beaks]

Original Poster

 

[termeerchick]

Original Poster

Ahhhh.... thank you!! I’ve seen “OP” a few times and just couldn’t figure out what it stood for lol. Thank you soo much!

 

[cmom]

If you see them in the day your overrun. Shooting them with a pellet gun is good sport but your have a serious problem and it won't put a dent in them. You have 100's of rats. Your only means to take care of it at this stage is to use poison. Chunx poison not pellets and use a tamper proof bait box. I keep one right in the run at all times.

I agree. I had a serious rat infestation in a coop and used rat bait boxes. Nothing can get to the bait except rats and mice. I did find a couple of dead rats which I disposed of but I think the rest went into their tunnels and died because I was checking the bait daily through the little window in the bait box that is over the bait and it got to a point where the baits were hardly touched and I didn't see any more signs of activity. This is what I use and nothing can get to the baits except the rats and mice.

 

[cmom]

Went to feed and water my chickens yesterday and I found 5 dead hens a couple with heads off. Check cage no Predators have gotten in. My rooster had what looked like blood around beak area. The rest of them seemed calm . Checked back a few times last night all seemed well.
Went out this morning 5 'more dead ones few with heads off again my ofther rooster is beat up bad and more blood around the beak of the other.
I have cage him up now ( husband says there's dinner)
I know we will have to get rid of him but would like to figure out what happened. Never had a problem at all before with him. He is actually probably one of the friendliest ones in the coop.
What happened

I agree with the other posters. It appears you have a predator. If you have a game camera, put it up because it will keep coming back. Here we have mostly coyotes. I have several game cameras up around on our property and hardly a night go by (here most of the predators roam at night) that I don't see a predator on at least one of the cameras. This is a few nights ago. Usually I see them alone or in pairs.

 

[wyoming wonder]

A raccoon stuck his hands through my coop and killed one of my chickens and ripped her head off. It was so sad. He did it the day before we had planned to put up the extra siding on the coop to keep them from reaching in. Do you have it covered with something that predators can’t reach in?

 

[wyoming wonder]

Ots a wooden house. I lock the door and have 3 bricks in front of the door so nothing can get in or out of the house.
They also are in their pen I built for them to keep them in at night in the far corner away from the door.