Help my rooster is attacking one of my hens!

[aart]

I wish I could rehome my rooster. No one around here wants an aggressive rooster, except for the soup pot.

The soup pot is the best place for them...so let him go for someone else to eat, if you don't want to eat him.
Aggressive cock/erels shouldn't be rehomed or allowed to reproduce.

 

[ValerieJ]

The soup pot is the best place for them...so let him go for someone else to eat, if you don't want to eat him.
Aggressive cock/erels shouldn't be rehomed or allowed to reproduce

Are you saying a time out until the chickens are larger wont help? Once aggressive always aggressive? Could save me a lot of effort to know this.

 

[aart]

Quote:

Quote: Seeing as how your cockerel and pullets are only about 4 months old, separation may help.
But I did already advised above.

 

[Mrs. K]

Yes, often times roosters raised with just flock mates become aggressive, and generally speaking the aggression grows worse and worse. I have seen numerous posts on here, that when you put them back together, the behavior returns almost immediately.

Roosters are a crap shoot, and some of them are dangerously aggressive, no matter what you do, often times the behavior moves on towards humans too. Those roosters can be **** intimidating and dangerous to small children. Roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people.

If you cull him, you are going to enjoy your flock again. Later, when you have more experience and an older flock, perhaps you might want to try another rooster. A good rooster is a joy and a great addition to a flock. A rotten one is just an irritation to both you and the flock. Don't waste time on a rotten rooster.

Mrs K

 

[ValerieJ]

Thanks again, Aart. And thanks to Mrs. K also. It is so hard for me to consider killing one of these young birds. But, you are convincing me it's what I must do. I am going to give him this one shot of separation until the small birds are larger. I have him with one chicken that he really likes, and she likes him too. I hope the smaller birds are full grown by the end of the summer. Then I'll try letting him in and if he is aggressive at that point, we'll put him down.

 

[ValerieJ]

This is my sweet Shirl in isolation in the garage. We are building her a coop so she can be out in the berry patch run, near the other chicks but separate. Immediately when I put her in here she relaxed. She didn't pace at all, and she has all the food she needs. It was like she finally let out a breath. I'll get a better picture when I refresh her food later, and change this one out.

 

[ValerieJ]

The rooster and his best girl in time out from the flock. This is the berry patch run, which I'll put a proper coop in and move Shirl too. One of the RIRs will probably go in with her because they are the same size and Vern has moved onto her. Vern is not long for this world, but I cannot kull him and my husband is out of town. So, it will be a delicate balance until then. As you can see above, Shirl is safe.

 

[ValerieJ]

Seeing as how your cockerel and pullets are only about 4 months old, separation may help.
But I did already advised above.

I am so sad to report that time out did not help at all. The rooster was fine with his one chicken he likes in a separate run, but this has all happened so fast that the only shelter I had in there was my brooding pen with a plastic table cloth over it, waiting for my husband to get home and build a second coop, which is happening today. But not until after he culls the rooster. Two days ago we had an unexpected hard rain and the make shift coop was drenched inside and out. I had a rooster and hen standing in the rain being drenched. Since I had isolated Shirl, the little hen who had been picked on, I decided it would be safe to put the two back in with the other hens, and check often to see if anyone was getting picked on. Everything seemed to be going okay, until yesterday afternoon when I check. Ethel, the largest hen, had been viciously attacked and had no feathers or skin on the top of her head. I have isolated her inside the garage as well, separate from Shirl of course. Then I tossed the rooster back in the berry run, where there is no longer a shelter for him. I just didn't have anything to offer him. But, no rain. And no matter. He will be in the freezer later this morning. Ethel was in bad shape last night. I put electrolytes in her water and forced her to drink some with a syringe. I cleaned the wound with peroxide and dressed it with Neosporin. Then I prayed for the best for her. This morning she was actually standing up. Not sure if she is eating yet. When my husband gets up we'll go out and try to get more electrolyte infused water down her. This has all been so difficult for me because my husband has been traveling a lot for work lately and I am here alone trying to sort this all out. I read so much before I got chickens, but I just didn't know what I didn't know. Thank you so much for all your advice. Any advice on how to care for my wounded hen?

 

[Mrs. K]

I am not a big fan of separating birds. I think it causes more problems than it solves. Yes you needed to pull the rooster. He was just a bad rooster, and needed to be culled. But as to the injured birds. Chickens are not the smartest of animals, and when a bird is separated, she becomes a stranger to the flock, and when she is all healed up and you want to put her back, you have a rough integration issue all over again, with birds being upset, vicious toward the "new bird". A single bird is the worst integration one can do, even if they were part of the flock. This is going to upset your flock, both that attacking birds and the victim birds all over again.

I am a believer in Blue kote, slap that on the injury and stick them back in the flock. If they are really too weak to be in with the others, then put them in a cage inside the run during the day, Make sure there is shade, and in the coop at night. But pulling them completely away from the flock to the garage, is going to cause a lot of problems again with this flock.

I think that if you have enough space for the number of birds you have, and you remove the rooster, you should begin to enjoy your flock again. The flock should settle down, and be peaceful. IMO get those two birds back in that flock ASAP, or cull them too.

Good luck
Mrs K

 

[ValerieJ]

Oh no! This just tells me I will lose two more chickens! That is terrible news. Ethel is in very bad shape. Listening to all the advice I have gotten on this website tells me that if I let her back in the flock, she will be picked on by the other chickens because they are attracted to the red color. She is in bad shape. It's true that Shirl has not been injured yet, but she is the smallest and was the original one picked on by the rooster, who is no more. I'm really confused. Early in my interaction with BYC, I am getting conflicting advice. I'm just trying to do the best for my chickens.