Aggressive feather pecking rooster

[50-45-1]

I understand that feather pulling is part of his natural behavior

I find this not true
I have had plenty of roosters over the years, and the keepers dont damage hen feathers ever. Its aggressiveness or bad technique
Your concern for the 2 young children is well founded and no matter how you try to adjust this roosters attitude, he can never be trusted around children. He has displayed his temperament and disposition.
The egg cracking and egg eating issue.
If your nest boxes dont have deep soft bedding add some more shavings and or straw.
Making the nest boxes darker may help so they cant see or focus on those eggs may help.
Roll away nest boxes are great but not always possible for your setup.
Fake eggs or golf balls in each box help, because hens get discouraged picking at them with no result.
Gather eggs more often during the day.
Sometimes boredom and close confinement are contributing factors of egg eating and feather picking. Get them more run space and things to scratch and peck through
If you can identify the egg eater, pinless peepers for about a month may cure it.
Check the protein content of your feed and let us know what it is.

 

[Chickassan]

They do normally get removed at night but I've found that to be a pain to do so I made my own in such a way that the cuff stays on the leg and attaches to the lead with a clip.
It isn't much different than hooking a leash on a collar.

No some of the girls pop out first. They all roost together in a 10'by 6' coop.

How do you arrange the tie out? Does it have to get attached every morning and removed every night?

 

[Hilltownchickens]

Your concern for the 2 young children is well founded and no matter how you try to adjust this roosters attitude, he can never be trusted around children. He has displayed his temperament and disposition.

If this is the case, I think this rooster is not serving his purpose and will be served up instead. It is extremely important to us that our children can chore without adult supervision. We hadn't planned on having a rooster and thought we'd try it out but I don't think this is the guy for our situation.

Otherwise, the nesting boxes are dark blue solid totes with access squares cut out - very dark. And the feed is green mountain soy free organic layer pellets with 16% protein.

I think we will still plan to isolate the Broody Chicken and her eggs in a way where they can be close but not exposed to the other girls.

I have watched this community and searched through posts to learn for years. This is my first post and I am not at all disappointed with how fruitful the responses have been. Thank you so much everyone, it has been a tremendous help for a situation!

 

[Hilltownchickens]

Your concern for the 2 young children is well founded and no matter how you try to adjust this roosters attitude, he can never be trusted around children. He has displayed his temperament and disposition.

If this is the case, I think this rooster is not serving his purpose and will be served up instead. It is extremely important to us that our children can chore without adult supervision. We hadn't planned on having a rooster and thought we'd try it out but I don't think this is the guy for our situation.

Otherwise, the nesting boxes are dark blue solid totes with access squares cut out - very dark. And the feed is green mountain soy free organic layer pellets with 16% protein.

I think we will still plan to isolate the Broody Chicken and her eggs in a way where they can be close but not exposed to the other girls.

I have watched this community and searched through posts to learn for years. This is my first post and I am not at all disappointed with how fruitful the responses have been. Thank you so much everyone, it has been a tremendous help for a situation!

 

[abpatchy]

Any rooster charging you to where you have to worry about being injured....
and any rooster (or hen) picking feathers...
just wrote their own invitation to dinner. Period.

There are enough good roosters out there that know how to behave themselves. Yes, he needs to protect his girls but he should know that you are not a threat.
Feather picking is a behavior that just won't quit... and is being taught to other chickens. You do not want that!!! Get rid of the one before you need to get rid of more.

Now he could have some sort of deficiency but that still does not explain his behavior toward you and your family.

 

[Chickassan]

Too low of a protein content for your flock, bump up to a 17% to 20% range or introduce some alternative protein sources bulk insects, meat scraps, etc.

If this is the case, I think this rooster is not serving his purpose and will be served up instead. It is extremely important to us that our children can chore without adult supervision. We hadn't planned on having a rooster and thought we'd try it out but I don't think this is the guy for our situation.

Otherwise, the nesting boxes are dark blue solid totes with access squares cut out - very dark. And the feed is green mountain soy free organic layer pellets with 16% protein.

I think we will still plan to isolate the Broody Chicken and her eggs in a way where they can be close but not exposed to the other girls.

I have watched this community and searched through posts to learn for years. This is my first post and I am not at all disappointed with how fruitful the responses have been. Thank you so much everyone, it has been a tremendous help for a situation!

 

[Hilltownchickens]

Happy to bump up the protein. We do give them all our kitchen scraps, including meaty bones, cheese scraps, meat scraps etc. except for chicken meat or eggs. Bulk insects is a good idea too. But yes, the rooster must move on.

 

[Folly's place]

This rooster is not behaving well, and won't improve. He needs that invitation to dinner, either for your family, or someone else's. RIR's have a well deserved reputation for this sort of thing.
Nice roosters are great, and jerks just aren't. Your flock is stressed by his behavior, and your family is at risk of serious injuries.
If possible, separate your broody, so her chicks are safe, for one or two weeks.
Feeding: an all flock diet, 18% to 20% protein, works very well, with oyster shell in a separate feeder. If you are feeding a 16% layer feed, consider making this change.
Mary

 

[Hilltownchickens]

An update for anyone interested in how things are playing out.. and possibly the need for more advice

The rooster quickly lost his boldness when he realized we were trying to catch him. After a hearty game of catch the chicken (we had to do it in the afternoon, unfortunately), he was in my arms and possibly having flash backs of all the things he could've done better in his short one year of life.. but probably not because he is a chicken.

Things went quickly and it was an engaging learning experience for the whole family. Our 80 year old neighbors are sad to have lost their alarm clock, siting grogginess due to over sleeping in the AM. I told them they could have taken him as their own but they didn't seemed interested.

A dear friend quickly constructed a very adequate isolation coop that allowed us to remove the entire nesting tote and set it into the new set up. Unfortunately, it was the wrong Rhode Island Red sitting on the eggs when the nest was relocated. So then last night I switched her out with who had been our broody girl (she distinctly has recovered her feathers from not being a target for the rooster because she was safely huddled in the nest for the past weeks).
Now she seems not very broody at all and I feel like we foiled the whole plan by mixing the girls up when we moved the nest yesterday.

We plan to let her for the next several days and see how things go but we would be glad for any input or scolding.

 

[Folly's place]

Thanks for the update!
Moving broodies while they are on their nests can go well, or not. It's best done at night, with a small flashlight, into an already set up new site. Getting the wrong hen sure didn't help!
Hens who want to be broody will often try again, so if this doesn't work out, another time might.
All the best,
Mary