agressive young stud...your advice sought!

[ksukristin]

So my new tuxedo boy has become quite the 'stud' and chases the gals around endlessly. I removed one of the gals because he had pulled out all of the feathers on the back of her head AND her shoulder and there was some blood- she looked so sad! (and cold!) so I separated her. She is healing up and is thankful to be in a separate pen with just one other girl.

but this morning I noticed now he's picked a new favorite (he is now in a pen with 3 girls) and his new favorite gal had some blood on her face...no feather pulling but blood! This guy is rough! So I'm thinking of what to do this weekend to get this solved-

should I-

trim his beak?

separate him from the girls for awhile?

all of the above?

your advice is much appreciated!

 

[La Mike]

I dont think seperating him will help
He will still be agrressive when you put him back
Question is are you trying to breed or just colonize
Debeaking will probably be your best option

 

[Ironsun]

Hi,

I suggest you buy more females for him, 3 is never enough for my younger males.

Ironsun.

 

[canter6]

Quote:
I agree. What most people describe as "aggressive" is normal and should be encouraged and not culled. On the flip side, any roo that is brutalized by hens should be culled.

It's a delicate balance sometimes.

 

[can you hear me now?]

What I would say is usually a rule to follow it to have 10 to 15 girls for one rooster. He will still have a favorite picked, but it may alleviate some of the blood and feather pulling.

 

[ksukristin]

thanks for the feedback y'all-

I was off the map for awhile for the holiday. Here is an update

Ironsun- I started him out with 5 gals...but he tore two of them up real bad, so I pulled those two gals out and put them in a separate pen so they could heal up-that's why he was only with 3 gals...from what I've read 4-5 gals per one guy is a pretty typical grouping size.

As for the two gals... they were bleeding pretty bad and half their feathers on their shoulders and nearly all the feathers on their heads were gone. One of the gals had a lot of damage to one of her wings. Canter6- please correct me if I'm wrong...but..I expected to see maybe a bald spots on the head and maybe a little blood but nothing like a nearly torn off wing... that isn't normal aggresive behavior, is it? (I suppose I've read about these little buggers killing each other, but I figured for the purposes of mating that it wouldn't get that bloody...)

The nice gal I got this boy from was keeping him with only 2 gals and they weren't beat up worse than normal- and by normal I'm just talking about the bald spot on the back of the head...so why he was OK with two gals and is now not OK with 5 has me a bit confused.

So I'm thinking about a little beak trim to calm things down. To answer your question lamike I was just trying to create a breeding set so I could incubate some eggs this spring.

Thanks again everyone for chiming in!

 

[deerman]

Before trimming his beak, just place a bit in his beak, he will be able to eat fine, not able to pinch the skin on the hens.

Know some dont agree with using them, best if birds are placed in breeding cages. Unless you can give them alot of room.

 

[Wifezilla]

Eat him.

Jerk roos and drakes are destined for the grill at my house. Too many nice ones out there that people can't find homes to put up with a jerk.

That being said, 2 of my quail hens are a bit bald, but since there is no blood I am willing to put up with my roo for now.