Bared back hens? Too many roos??

[mmtillman]

I have 5 Dominicker hens along with 15 other assorted hens and 3 roosters. All my dominickers are getting bald spots on their back sides ...does this mean I have too many roos riding the hens?? The dom rooster seems to only mate with the dom hens so they are getting quite a workout from him each day....also some of my 5 EE hens heads no long have a muff...they are picked off along with bald spots on the sides and back of the head...do I need to cull a rooster??

 

[snowydiamonds]

Try aprons on the hens w/bare backs, maybe you can house the roo's together away from the hens for awhile for the feathers to grow back. I had to give up one of my largest and favorite EE roo because he was just too big for the hens and I couldn't have bare backed hens in the winter. As for the EE's, mine are by far the most passive and sweetest birds and do not keep well with more aggressive hens so I put them in their own coop. If you have time, you could stand out in the coop with them and when one gets to pecking on another, hold the one pecked on in between alternately letting the aggressive hen(s) know you are a bigger bully and boss them around without hurting them in any way but nonetheless, boss them around, make them move away, etc. I did that with my first flock of RIR's and it worked. Just be aware that if you have a latch that will swing shut when its windy outside, that as long as you have a deep bedding of clean straw and a cell phone, everything's going to come out right in due time, including yourself from the coop My neighbor thought it was hilarious that first winter when I had to call her three different times to come let me out of the coop...

 

[CityClucks]

Hey mmtillman. The rule of thumb is about 10-12 hens to one rooster, so you do have too many roos. Good luck with your flock!

 

[mmtillman]

snowydiamonds ??...Your post and story made my day !!

Yes....I bet it was hard to live down....being locked in the coop....I had to laugh at the visual of you bedding down with the birds till help arrived....LOLOL!! Thanks also for the good advice ...I will certainly try all of the above to help my hens heal up before winter arrives!!