Help Help!! Rooster Attacked By Hens!!

[VredenburgS]

Hello !
Today my husband and I went out to the coop and our Roosters comb and butt were bloody and the hens were attacking him! My husband saw the hens pecking at him earlier in the day but assumed it was them trying to keep him off of them. Now his butt and comb are tore up, and bloody! We don't know why they did it or what to do now!!! We seperated him from the flock and put him in the barn for the night......Any suggestions? I can't understand why , all of a sudden , they would attack him like that. They have all lived together fine for the past 2 months.
Thank you for any comments or suggestions!
Shelly

 

[greathorse]

HOw old is he? If he is of breeding age and cant take care of himself I would question whether or not he is the fella to handle the ladies. If he is undersized or underaged it is a differnt story.

 

[VredenburgS]

He is about a year and a half old...he is the biggest rooster I have seen. He has been "taking care" of the girls every day with no problems. He was even "taking care" of them while the others were pecking him.. He has been dominant and "in Charge" since we've had these birds...BTW He is a Leghorn...we have 3 leghorn females and 4 Isa Browns. Seems like the leghorn females were the most aggressive twords him. We feed them Laying Hen Chicken feed from Tractor Supply and give them scratch ...also feed them eggshells and table scraps occasionally. Have been reading other replys and will try Yogurt and let them free range for a while to see if this behavior stops. What surprises me is that everything has been great up untill today.

 

[PortageGirl]

Probably one pecked him once just as an irritable reaction to something or other and drew blood half way by accident, you know how they do sometimes, just get snippy with each other. Then, once blood is drawn, it can be a free for all, esp in a white breed where blood would be very evident. Darker feathers can get away with a drop here and there, but if ther'es a spot of blood that they can see, it can go bad fast.

That's totally a guess of course, but it's an educated one.

 

[Kittymomma]

Quote:
I agree. Keep him away from the other's until he heals up and there is no more red. A lot of people use blue kote to help with healing/infection and it makes everything blue instead of red so the others aren't as likely to keep pecking at him. Put him back in when you can be around to keep an eye on things. I really think PortageGirl is right though, and it was just an irritable momment that got out of hand. Good luck with your boy!