Cockerel pecking at mother hen and chicks

[mspower32]

You did not offend me, do not worry.

You could try to keep him separated for the night so the mother hen and her chicks can go into the coop without being pecked or chased off by him. And in the morning set him free and let him run with the entire flock during the day.

That sounds good, I will give it a go, thank you very much

 

[DoubleYolk123]

Hi thank you for replying, no he dosent chase the chicks, he is pecking at momma hen in the coop, he roosts overhead her and is pecking down at her, there is a wooden shelf between her and him but he is pecking downwards at her and if the chicks come out of the nest box hes pecking at them like hes sending them back into the nest with momma, he chased her this evening once she crouched for him to mount her but instead he pecked at her back pulling out some feathers and then he went into the coop left her be, yes I'm going to keep them in the nursery for another few weeks and try again, he dosent bother with momma hen and chicks in the run during daytime only displaying this behaviour when it's time to go into the coop and inside the coop but he has displayed this behaviour few nights ago but they were unharmed the following morning so I thought everything was okay until tonight I wasn't happy with his behaviour I witnessed in the coop so I removed momma and chicks and put them back in the nursery.

It seems to just be a bad case of getting to know each other, if no one is getting seriously hurt, then time should be enough to solve the problem, it could be that both the hen and the chicks are new so he would be acting like this either way. But yes going back to the nursery seems like the best option.

 

[RainbowHen]

So it sounds like this hen is quite new to him. I would separate them from him for a while and reintroduce. He only attacks them in the coop? Smaller enclosed space may be causing stress. How big is your coop and run?

 

[LaFleche]

their nursery which is divided by wire from the main run but everyone has been able to see each other since the chicks hatched

my six week old chicks

They know each other for 6 weeks already which should be enough time to get used to the mother hen and the chicks.

 

[Chicalina]

I would take him out at night to sleep somewhere else as someone else said, for at least a week. He needs to be taken down a peg or two and removing him will do that. He can run with the hens in the day, so long as he behaves. I would watch carefully in the day and as soon as he chases or pecks, remove him and crate him for an hour.

 

[RainbowHen]

They know each other for 6 weeks already which should be enough time to get used to the mother hen and the chicks.

Yes I understand but seems like they haven't been in physical contact until now. I may be wrong. I would definitely pull him out and try again after a while.

 

[mspower32]

So it sounds like this hen is quite new to him. I would separate them from him for a while and reintroduce. He only attacks them in the coop? Smaller enclosed space may be causing stress. How big is your coop and run?

My coop is big enough for 10-12 chickens, atm 4 hens and cockerel sleep in the coop so there is more than enough room but momma hen favours a certain box in the coop and she pushes any hen out of that box and goes in with her chicks, that hen that she pushes out screechs and leaves the coop cause momma hen appears to be the top hen now, the other hens dont mess with her. Main sheltered run is 4x6 meters and second run adjoining that is 6x8 meters, momma and the chicks stay in the run during the daytime and cockerel and 4 hens join my other 6 hens who sleep in the barn freeranging on my property from morning until afternoon when I put them into my large sandring adjoining a huge barn in the afternoon as I had fox attacks, then the other 6 hens choose to sleep in the barn coop and cockerel and the 4 hens go back to coop in the garden to sleep, I know it sounds complicated but this is how it goes atm, we are planning to make a chunnell from the sandring to garden run so they can freely go between the two areas, atm I escort the cockerel and 4 hens from the sandring to the garden coop for bed as I've had a fox take 2 of my hens but we have extended the fence in the sand ring and closed off the lane at the back of the barn where he took the 2 hens so they are safe now, if we want to go out for the day we leave the cockerel and 4 hens in their run and the other hens in the barn but it's rare we have to do this as my son is home mostly, I have a separate nursery for momma and the chicks with access to both runs and they all have spent time in the run with no issues.

 

[mspower32]

Yes I understand but seems like they haven't been in physical contact until now. I may be wrong. I would definitely pull him out and try again after a while.

Physical contact only started last week

 

[mspower32]

So it sounds like this hen is quite new to him. I would separate them from him for a while and reintroduce. He only attacks them in the coop? Smaller enclosed space may be causing stress. How big is your coop and run?

Yes the hen is new to him, physical contact only started last week, she only went into the coop last week with him and she really took over the coop pushing his hens out

 

[mspower32]

I would take him out at night to sleep somewhere else as someone else said, for at least a week. He needs to be taken down a peg or two and removing him will do that. He can run with the hens in the day, so long as he behaves. I would watch carefully in the day and as soon as he chases or pecks, remove him and crate him for an hour.

That sounds like a really good plan, he should get the message hopefully