Aggressive Rooster, re-home him…?

[Animallover777]

Hello so I’ve had my rooster for almost 8 months now. He is young and just a little over a year old. I have 3 hens that I’ve had for about 5months. They are also young. They all had very nice feathers when i got them. Overtime one of the hens in particular started to loose feathers on her lower back and tail area. It’s only gotten worse and she’s basically bald in that area now. I believe it’s from my rooster being very aggressive and always demanding to mate while he’s very harsh about it. Her skin is very bright pink/reddish like it’s raw. She’s been missing feathers in that area for months now and it’s not getting any better. Her neck is also missing some feathers. She is very rough and pokey as her feathers are missing. Another one of them is a Rhode Island with very very nice feathers. Just within the past few weeks a couple feathers on each side of her wings are starting to come out & look patchy. I’m afraid the same thing will happen to her because of the rooster. He was very nice for the first couple of months and has been getting more aggressive overtime & in the last couple of weeks he has even been getting aggressive with me for no reason. Today as I was walking past him & he jumped up at me like he wanted to attack. I’m worried for my hens health and am afraid he will just keep beating them up and they’ll never get their feathers back. And that he’ll become even more aggressive overtime with me and them. He also stomps toward them while spreading one of his wings multiple times a day, to me this looks like he’s threatening them. He protects them and all and lets them get their treats first. But I don’t have time or want to try and train him to be less aggressive. I really hate to get rid of him but my hens and their health are more important to me. Is re-homing him a smart choice? Please give me your opinions/knowledge/experiences.
Edit: For separation my only option would be to lock him in the coop all day but I feel bad doing that. Plus the hens have to go in there to lay daily. So it’s really not an option.

 

[BlueBaby]

Can you separate him from the hen's?

 

[ThinMintTheChicken]

Hello so I’ve had my rooster for almost 8 months now. He is young and just a little over a year old. I have 3 hens that I’ve had for about 5months. They are also young. They all had very nice feathers when i got them. Overtime one of the hens in particular started to loose feathers on her lower back and tail area. It’s only gotten worse and she’s basically bald in that area now. I believe it’s from my rooster being very aggressive and always demanding to mate while he’s very harsh about it. Her skin is very bright pink/reddish like it’s raw. She’s been missing feathers in that area for months now and it’s not getting any better. Her neck is also missing some feathers. She is very rough and pokey as her feathers are missing. Another one of them is a Rhode Island with very very nice feathers. Just within the past few weeks a couple feathers on each side of her wings are starting to come out & look patchy. I’m afraid the same thing will happen to her because of the rooster. He was very nice for the first couple of months and has been getting more aggressive overtime & in the last couple of weeks he has even been getting aggressive with me for no reason. Today as I was walking past him & he jumped up at me like he wanted to attack. I’m worried for my hens health and am afraid he will just keep beating them up and they’ll never get their feathers back. And that he’ll become even more aggressive overtime with me and them. He also stomps toward them while spreading one of his wings multiple times a day, to me this looks like he’s threatening them. He protects them and all and lets them get their treats first. But I don’t have time or want to try and train him to be less aggressive. I really hate to get rid of him but my hens and their health are more important to me. Is my only option to re-home him or would that be a smart choice? Please give me your opinions/knowledge/experiences.

I would separate him

 

[Animallover777]

Can you separate him from the hen's?

No necessarily, my only option would be to lock him in the coop all day but I feel bad doing that. Plus the hens have to go in there to lay daily

 

[Halfpasthen]

I don't think he's necessarily being aggressive to the hens. Sounds like he's displaying to them. It's just not enough hens for him. He's young and not very skilled.
The human aggression will likely get worse. Re-home him with full disclosure or butcher him.

 

[BlueBaby]

No necessarily, my only option would be to lock him in the coop all day but I feel bad doing that. Plus the hens have to go in there to lay daily

What about putting him in a wire dog crate in the coop? As long as he has access to the hen's he will continue being rough on them, and maybe even attacking you.

 

[NatJ]

Is my only option to re-home him or would that be a smart choice?

Rehoming is not the only option.

Butchering him is another option. You could have a nice pot of chicken soup, and he would never attack anyone again.

And, as several other people have said, putting him in a separate pen is a way to protect your hens, and if you do not go in that pen you will also be safe from him.

 

[3KillerBs]

If he is aggressive to humans do not rehome him without CLEARLY informing people that he's human-aggressive.

I'd eat him myself. That way I'd be sure he didn't hurt anyone -- especially a child.

While some people *do* manage to successfully keep pairs or trios, 3 hens is very few to absorb a young cockerel's energy.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Chop House.

"When the need arises - and it does - you must be able to shoot your own dog. Don't farm it out - that doesn't make it nicer, it makes it worse." - Robert A. Heinlein

I don't expect a chicken to act like a human, but I DO expect it to know its place in the flock. It is no kindness to allow an aggressor to live and continue abusing the innocent (or yourself) for reasons of emotion. Nor do I think it appropriate to "rehome" an aggressive rooster even with disclosure - unless its being rehomed for purposes of becoming a meal.

Aggressive Roosters become meals for myself and my family.

I take no joy in it, but neither do I shirk from the duty. The bird has chosen its place in the culling line by its behaviors, I merely give motive force to its election.

You can try to rehabilitate - no doubt others will come along and offer emotional or moral pleas for not culling, and various means for retraining a Roo. Maybe it works. Usually not. Recommend you not delay sentence too long, that someone doesn't suffer significant injury from the delay.

Full disclosure. Both myself, and my wife, have been flogged by an aggressive Roo. Those spurs have been in very dirty places. The tend to penetrate, quite deeply, into soft tissue areas - around the ankle, under the knee - bleed profusely, and are prone to infection. I gave my Roo one "freebie" while defending hisgirls while I handled them roughly for a mass wieghing. When he attacked my wife while she fed the flock, I culled him THAT DAY. Even though he was my only breeding age Roo, and it set my project back a month or more. Simple risk management. My wife's and my health are worth a lot more than he is.

[Same advice I have offered many times - its a cut and paste at this point]

 

[LizzyIceTea]

I don't think he's necessarily being aggressive to the hens. Sounds like he's displaying to them. It's just not enough hens for him. He's young and not very skilled.
The human aggression will likely get worse. Re-home him with full disclosure or butcher him.

Agreed. His behavior with people is not ok.
But you can buy your girl a saddle. My boy had a favorite girl, and she would have patches on her wings.
Got her a saddle with a wing protector and it worked great.
Downside is she hated it and it made her really hot.