Did rooster kill hen?

[chickengeorgeto]

There are any number of euphemisms in the English language for the actions of roosters. The two that come to mind right now are 'the cock of the walk' and 'to rule the roost.'

They both have the same connotations meaning in the poultry world the male is dominant. Mature roosters will generally not attack a hen because he doesn't need to attack her to establish dominance. The universal exception to this rule is if the hen shows aggression, especially to a young rooster. It can be anything that a new chicken person may not notice like her spreading her hackle feathers, a peck, a look, or a hen's refusal to give her favors to the rooster. Also right up there are two hens fighting. Rooster can not stand that and will break it up quickly, more likely than not siding with the under dog if there is one.

The only exception I have seen is a blind or near blind rooster put into a strange pen or coop hitting at his hens every time one comes close to him. In the pen the rooster came from he was dominant (in his mind) and he intends to maintain his dominant in the new pen. Finally all chickens dislike weakness. If a member of the flock should have something suddenly happen to them where they display weakness (say a heart attack or other sudden onset of illness) every rooster in the state (and half the hens too) will jump on the down bird especially if it was a dominant bird before the sudden event occurred.

 

[Eva2012]

So helpful, thank you

 

[SophiaRDF]

I would bet money that the rooster killed your hen. My husband and I have a flock of free ranging chickens of mainly American game and some mixed with RIR. Never had any issues with the roosters-all have been very sweet and great protectors of the flock. Until...we got a young game cock of South American bloodlines. When he was old enough to be introduced to the flock, about 4-5 months old, everything was fine. He was beautiful and seemed to be doing a fine job of keeping the flock safe. One day, we found a dead hen, right next to the house. An odd place for a predator to kill and we have a farm dog who is very protective of the chickens, and the rest of the flock was calm, which would be unusual if it had been a predator (they are normally freaked out for the rest of the day and in hiding), so we were puzzled as to what had happened and had never imagined a rooster would kill his hens. We hatched out some Delaware chicks and one came out really little, like the runt of the clutch or something. One morning, shortly after letting the chickens out of the night-time coop to free range, I heard a terrible commotion and saw the rooster flogging to death "Little Chicken". Maybe something was wrong with her? Then, he started acting and trying to kill "Chubweena" a very large game chicken, maybe 7 months old. My husband promptly killed him. Now, we have his son, who was the sweetest chick when he was growing up and very friendly. He has never tried to attack us (would be in the pot if he did), but it appears this mean gene runs in the family because he, too, is trying to kill Chubweena. She is smart and will run to us or the dog for protection, but I believe this son of a hen killer has to go. It is also stressing the rest of the flock and our egg production is down. Get rid of the hen killer and you will be much happier.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Any hen who fails to kowtow to an adult dominant rooster is living on borrowed time. (notice I said, "dominant adult" rooster, I ain't talking about no pimple faced teen age punk rooster seeking to make a name for himself. The gray cock(?) looks to be fully matured.

I am sorry for your loss but chickens are not interchangeable cogs in a machine. I have had hens who killed other hens if the other hen refused the roosters' advances. Anyway, in a roosters' mind what good is a virgin hen and why should he protect a hen who obviously doesn't respect her rooster by favoring him with her charms?

When you introduce a new overlord into your flock expect blood to be spilled. These are dumb animals that we are dealing with, not Noble Peace Prize candidates.

The new overlord is the gray rooster and the hen in question still thought that she was in charge, a bad mistake on her part.

But always remember this. It takes "two to tango" and no rooster will renew and press an attack if the target of that attack is demonstrating submission. I know some of you are going to toss your mouse through their monitor and accuse me of blaming the victim, but it is the truth. Also removing the most aggressive bird is a loosing strategy because you are only dragging out or postponing the inevitable tussle not getting it over with and settled.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I would bet money that the rooster killed your hen. My husband and I have a flock of free ranging chickens of mainly American game and some mixed with RIR. Never had any issues with the roosters-all have been very sweet and great protectors of the flock. Until...we got a young game cock of South American bloodlines. When he was old enough to be introduced to the flock, about 4-5 months old, everything was fine. He was beautiful and seemed to be doing a fine job of keeping the flock safe. One day, we found a dead hen, right next to the house. An odd place for a predator to kill and we have a farm dog who is very protective of the chickens, and the rest of the flock was calm, which would be unusual if it had been a predator (they are normally freaked out for the rest of the day and in hiding), so we were puzzled as to what had happened and had never imagined a rooster would kill his hens. We hatched out some Delaware chicks and one came out really little, like the runt of the clutch or something. One morning, shortly after letting the chickens out of the night-time coop to free range, I heard a terrible commotion and saw the rooster flogging to death "Little Chicken". Maybe something was wrong with her? Then, he started acting and trying to kill "Chubweena" a very large game chicken, maybe 7 months old. My husband promptly killed him. Now, we have his son, who was the sweetest chick when he was growing up and very friendly. He has never tried to attack us (would be in the pot if he did), but it appears this mean gene runs in the family because he, too, is trying to kill Chubweena. She is smart and will run to us or the dog for protection, but I believe this son of a hen killer has to go. It is also stressing the rest of the flock and our egg production is down. Get rid of the hen killer and you will be much happier.

Your teen aged, pimple faced,punk rooster found himself in a new and unfamiliar situation and he began trying to make sense out of this situation the only way a rooster knows how, with his chicken fists. An older roo would of only needed one or two licks to change your "Chubweena's" mind.

 

[SophiaRDF]

Just to clarify, these young roosters that killed our hens are not our first young roosters. They are the first young ones that have killed hens. And the hens they have killed have not been dominate birds, not by a long shot. Chubweena has submitted several times to allow the rooster to breed, but this rooster still wanted her dead, all throughout the day, anytime he saw her. I have a friend who has several game chickens and has lets even his roosters roam together without any trouble, but he says he does not have any Central or South American stock as he has witnessed the same overly aggressive trait.

We have introduced a few other roosters to the flock over the years, gradually as always, and have had no issues in the past.

I had to laugh at chickengeorgeto said:

"These are dumb animals that we are dealing with, not Noble Peace Prize candidates." I would argue that is not a good comparison of intelligence seeing how Barak Huesin Obama was actually given a Noble Peace Prize for doing nothing!

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Oh boy, it's just a matter of time before this thread gets locked, politics are a touchy subject for many. As for the rooster problems, I usually let the cards fall where they may. If a roo kills one of my hens, I say okay, maybe she wasn't being submissive enough, perhaps she is sick, etc.. A second time, I am keeping a very close eye on the perpetrator and monitoring his aggressive traits with people and other chickens. Third time, he goes, whether into the stew pot or someone else's yard, it's time for the roo to stop bothering my flock. Rehoming is easy around here, with so many nearby people keeping chooks, any excess or problem chickens are usually quickly Rehomed into people's backyard flocks. If the roo can't be Rehomed, I would either give him away to someone less fortunate, or butcher him for my family. Still, you need to think before you kill.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[MsDejesus1]

Following

 

[All Ball]

Are you folks saying that a roo will kill a sick chicken? And also, there are a lot of comments on byc about cockerels learning better manners when they are raised in a flock with older girls who won't let him cover them until he learns some skills and charms. Yet it seems, according to this thread, that such hens would be subject to roo aggression for their behavior.

I had 3 hens. When one came down with EYP, I got hatching eggs for my broody to add to the flock, expecting the eyp girl wouldn't last long.

I have kept one of the cockerels - he is now about 7 months. My lead hen, his broody mama, squats for him but the other two hens chased him away until he got bigger. Now they are scared. The EYP girl has been well enough to maintain her #2 position among the girls, but has a limp and a pale and shrunken comb that would indicate she is not reproductive. Yesterday I found the boy standing over her - she was playing dead and her comb and head were pecked badly.

Is it possible the third healthy older hen could be attacked because she previously dominated the roo? I am trying to decide whether to keep the roo separated until the eyp girl dies, or whether to get rid of him as he will just make my old girls' lives miserable. It was not easy to find homes for his brothers. He is otherwise a hard working and good tempered boy.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Sometimes a hen will fight with a roo for top spot. If he goes so far as to kill her, it may be time to remove him. Some younger cockerels will kill hens by over mating, but roosters should be mature enough to stop when the hens are distressed or injured. Hens usually run from roosters, especially cockerels, so this may put them into a frenzy where they hurt the hen. I hope you find the answers to your problems.