Does he need to go?

[margaretnz]

My mothers rooster killed one of her three hens, my favourite one, Hillary. It has been very upsetting. I think we should get rid of him as we don't want fertilized eggs anyway. Is he likely to do it again?

Is the problem that there are not enough hens? The other two seem fine.

 

[wynedot55]

yes cull that rooster now.if you dont he will end up killing the other 2 hens.an then your mom will have to start over.an i dont think she wants todo that.a rooster needs 10 or more hens to keep him busy.you might want to try that less he is mean towards your mom.

 

[peepkeeper]

I have to agree. If he's left with the other hens he's liable to kill them too. There are some roosters that are very aggressive. Keep him separated until you can cull him.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Sounds like dinner to me.

If you really want a roo, you could look at getting a bantam. They tend to have alot of spunk, but are a little gentler with their "touch". LOL.

Some breeds are just a little more aggressive than others, your roo may be one of the more aggressive and may just need more girls to "spread the wealth."

Since your mom only has two hens, you definantly want to cull him.

-Kimberly

 

[Kev]

Did he deliberately kill her or by accident as force-breeding too much?

If he deliberately killed her, remove him ASAP! Just kick him out of the coop or whatever immediately. Rooster killing hens on purpose is very rare and is a sign of something really wrong with him.. which translated to most likely he will do it again.

If it was by breeding too much, then yes he will do it again. Those roosters pretty much have just one thing on their minds, they just don't care if they are hurting or killing the hens. Those will do better with more hens, only because it is less likely one or two hens will get "too much attention".

As you don't care about fertilized eggs, get rid of him right now anyways. Roosters are totally irrevelant if you do not intend to hatch or breed from the hens. Even if you want to hatch eggs, can just get fertile eggs from someone and tuck it under a broody hen..

Sorry on your loss.