Bill Hates Ginger

[merrymutts]

I have a real problem in my flock. Bill the Cinnamon Queen rooster absolutely HATES sweet Ginger the little red mixed breed hen and I don't know why.

I normally let my birds Free Range on our land for a few hours in the evenings. They never miss going back into their house at night but... A few weeks ago, Ginger took off and didn't come back till the next afternoon. We were surprised as we figured she'd been gotten by a predator.

Basically she was in good shape...just dehydrated a little. Some days later. I noticed that no matter how hot it got, Ginger refused to leave her roost in the coop. Came to find out that she'd been totally ostracized...not by her fellow hens and pullets but by Bill, He's just been a ******** to her.

I had Ginger separated from the flock for about 2 weeks as she'd had an injury to her comb and one eye was completely closed. She healed up so last night I returned her to free ranging with the flock. Bill immediately started chasing Ginger off and bearing up on her.

This morning again, Ginger refused to leave the coop and when I picked her up and carried her outside to the pen...Bill started in on her again and sent her running back to the coop. So, I picked her up and took her back to the isolation pen.

Why does Bill do this to poor Ginger ?? She is such a sweet hen and has gotten very used to me picking her up and petting her since she'd been in isolation. Ginger was always a good layer until this happened...now she's not laid a single egg.

 

[CluckerCottage]

She is extremely stressed and stressed hens won't lay eggs.

It could be that the injuries to comb and eye made Bill see her as weak/unworthy of being in his flock.
He could kill her unless you separate them.

 

[sourland]

The injuries to her comb and eye may very well have been caused by 'Bill'. A rooster's job is to protect his hens. Every now and then a rooster for one reason or another will target a hen. Sometimes once that hen is eliminated he will move on to another hen. If 'Bill' lived here, he would become coq au vin.

 

[merrymutts]

I really need to keep a rooster here because of predators, even though I only let them free-range for a limited time. I was wondering if Ginger had gotten into something which may have given her feathers an unpleasant odor. This is because when Ginger was found the day after she'd disappeared, she was under our old truck. She may absorbed some of the oil from the truck on her feathers. Maybe if I give her a bath ???