Our annoying but not quite mean blue maran rooster suddenly took a turn for the worst and began attacking several of the hens. I don't mean aggressively chasing them down to mate, but attacking them like another rooster, spurs and all. He's specifically targeting last spring's additions to the flock, our Rhode Islands and Easter Eggers, but as of yet, not the buckeyes (I guess they're safe since they hide in the pig pen eating pig food all day). He never went after them before and was mating and being the good old rooster with them before. Our two other roosters do not go after them either. He gouged one of the rhode islands already and we treated that wound. He only goes after those specific hens. He does not go after the older members of the flock, and is always nice to his favourites, the black sex links. We have ~40 hens and 3 roosters. I say 40 because I can't ever remember the exact number, but it's definitely in the low 40s! Is there anything we can do? We were going to breed him with our easter eggers to try and get some olive egger chicks, but since he is attacking the easter eggers, we might have to rethink it... will this behaviour end when he 'thinks' he's established his 'dominance' over them? Now I will say in advance this is my least liked rooster. He has always been a bully when he mates the hens, chasing them down, jumping on them, sometimes re-mating them again and again when he's done. If needed I won't have any trouble seeing him go, but would still rather give him a chance since he is simply being what he is - a rooster. Any ideas? Our isolation box already has a resident so we can't put him there.
If he were mine, he would have to go. Human or hen abusive roosters have no place in the flock. His actions can physically injure the hens and cause decreased production, and there is a possibility that any of his sons will have the same disposition.
But he's not simply "being a rooster". That's like saying an abusive husband is simply "being a man". There's a world of difference! I'd also get rid of him. I totally understand the desire for a specific breeding project, but a disruptive bird is simply not worth it. And with a little searching, you could probably find another dark egger to replace him in that specific project. I've had one stalker rooster in my years of chicken keeping. My birds were free ranged at the time and he had his choice of dozens of hens. He obsessed over two particular hens and tormented them to the point where they'd hide under the porch and he'd perch on the porch all day, waiting for them to come out. Lots of screaming, chasing, feather pulling, etc. He tasted like chicken
Haha. Thanks for the replies! He can join our other two roosters in the freezer (they were extras, one had a chronic wheezing problem from chick-hood to adult, and the other was duck-aggressive). He too has his two favourites. One of them hides in the coop most of the day, because the moment he sees her he runs all the way across the yard to mate with her, chasing her into the coop, under the coop, and everywhere. And just to think, we had another beautiful blue maran rooster that we gave away to another farm. He was so friendly, calm, and gentle to the hens.
