Came home to find feathers all over pen and this.....

[sharonp53]

Thank you. I would be sad to kill him because he is good with us, but he is distantly related to the two girls, so all in all I think it may be best and I will breed more in the spring to raise the number of hens, then I will look for an unrelated roo.

 

[sharonp53]

I currently have the same situation. My rooster is penned separately from my hens. I bought 6 more hens who will be 6 months old in November. I'm giving him another try then. Until then he will be separated. He is good with people so that's why I'm keeping him. I also bought an Eagle tether anklet, which I have yet to try...been busy with the baby chicks.
My hen had the same big ugly gash on the back of her head...I used Vetericyn Plus which is a MIRACLE skin healer but you might not have that there.

Thank you for the reply. No we don't have that here, that ai know of anyway. I bathed her wounds in CS last night and gave her pain meds, she is doing much better today, so here's hoping!

 

[MissChick@dee]

I am not a big fan of keeping Roo’s. I couldn’t stand how they tore up my girls. My stories of injuries pales in comparison to yours. What do you NEED a roo for? Babies? Breed to sell Babies?? Yes I’m a Roo hater lol!

 

[sharonp53]

I am not a big fan of keeping Roo’s. I couldn’t stand how they tore up my girls. My stories of injuries pales in comparison to yours. What do you NEED a roo for? Babies? Breed to sell Babies?? Yes I’m a Roo hater lol!

I am an organic farmer and heritage chickens for gorgeous brown eggs are a part of my mix for farm income. So my girls need a man...lol. I have two other roosters that I didn't raise, that are perfect. I suspect I am not penning them right and not handling them enough. I have also raised two gorgeous ous before but I was not farming then and had far more time for them, evenso one went through this stage too. I suspect it is pure hormones an better housing may help.