Bullying Rooster

[adshoemake]

I have 5 hens and one Roo. They are all almost 4 months old. We have a huge coop for them and an gigantic run. We let them out when we are out there with them since our neighbors don't like to put their dogs up and we have lots of coyotes out here too. They have plenty of room and I throw scratch and things out there for them. My husband has also built several perches in the coop and in the run for them. The rooster and one hen are Partridge Plymouth Rocks and then the other 4 are White Rocks. The rooster never messes with the other Partridge Rock and she is the smallest one out of all of them. I was out there one day hand feeding them some grass and he came up and attacked the one I was feeding. I yelled at him and swatted at him. Well around that time he actually bit me as well (a few days before). I looked on here and when he did it the next time I pinned him to the ground and I started carrying him around more than we had in the past and yelling NO at him when he acted all crazy. He's a feisty thing that's for sure. Well I went out there today and noticed that one of the Whites has a huge gash on the side of her neck (the one I witnessed him attacking was a white as well). I'm not sure if it was the same bird last time or not. But I have posted a pic of the injury and I'm not sure what I should do to clean it. I was going to go in the morning and get some of the spray that they sell at the feed store out here but wasn't sure if there was anything else that I should do. And what do I do about the Roo? Is this just hormones be they are getting ready to lay eggs in about another month or two or is it just him being a jerk? He is a beautiful bird and I don't want to rehome him. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and try to help him but I don't want him hurting my hens and I sure don't want him hurting my 4 year old son, although, I have told my son he isn't being very nice lately and he may bite him so my son stays away from him. He doesn't charge at us or anything like that. He actually runs from us but any advice or suggestions would be great! Thanks!

 

[Judy]

Chickens heal very well. Any sort of basic first aid is fine, You don't have to worry about a dressing. I usually clean things with soap and water and use Neosporin. The only thing to watch out for is, don't use a people med with a "caine" drug in it, such as cetacaine or benzocaine. BluKote or a generic of it is good, too. This is mostly gnetian violet, an antiseptic which also discourages others from pecking at a wound. Watch out for flies laying eggs in a wound which leads to maggots -- if this happens, they must be picked out.

Yes, this is a hormonal thing. He is at the "teenage" stage and will calm down some in time. But if he has already caused a wound, you may want to reconsider. There are plenty of good roos aorund, often free or very cheap. Check out our Animals in Need of Free Rehoming forum. There are also lots of wonderful, lap roos, and one who is violent to your hens really isn't what you want. A good roo may not be very friendly to you, will often just avoid human contact, but will be a "gentleman" with his hens, "asking" before mating and mating without pulling feathers out or cutting them. There are too many good roos in the world ot keep one who is rough on his hens. Also, this is probably genetic at least to some extent, and you don't want to breed a roo who doesn't do his job well.

 

[adshoemake]

Thanks. He doesn't mess with the other hen of his same breed. For some reason he doesn't like the white ones....I think I have a racist bird haha. But I really want to try and work with him but if he keeps hurting them then I will definitely rehome him. This is the first injury and the second incident. I didn't see this one happen but I saw it the first time and when I yelled at him he stopped. Should I just wait ad see if he "outgrows" it?