Help! Roo killed a 3 month old chic

[pollitohenhouse]

What i dont understand is that the roo in question has been as loyal as a dog. He was just the perfect gaurd of the flock.
When i hand fed him treats he would take the time to pass it out to everyone to ensure everyone got some (even the two he killed)

 

[Ridgerunner]

Since he has killed a second time I'd get rid of him. There is something wrong with him. There are too many good roosters to put up with one like that so provide a good home to a good rooster.

 

[pollitohenhouse]

Makes sense, i hate to get rid of him cause he was such a boy right up til the other day.
And now the older hens are kinda being mean.
What happened all of a sudden to cause this aggression

 

[Ridgerunner]

Probably the baby chicks became adolescents, not so much the girls but the boys. I'd guess both victims were cockerels. If not, get rid of that rooster now! When the hormones kick in the cockerels start bothering the hens and sibling pullets. Often the cockerels start fighting. When the hormones hit the boys things typically get real exciting down there. When that happens my rooster will chase the boys away from his hens, but that's all he does. He does not chase them down and kill them. Often the hens run from the boys, often toward the rooster so he can deal with it, but some hens will fight back or even beat the boys up for bothering them.

 

[Yukidongo]

I need some advice.
I have a small flock of 16 chickens. 4 are 2 years old all easter eggers (including the roo). 4 are from a spring hatch all ee. And 8 are a late spring hatch of silkie/ee.
The whole flock has been together since may,with not a single issue. The roo always brought everyone treats and protected the flock!
Then 2 days ago i noticed one of the older chic was staying away from the flock (weird for such a tight knit flock). Then i saw the roo chasing the chic very very aggressivly. The roo would chase it off every time it saw it! The hens didnt seem to care at all.
So when i finally said enough is enough and went to seperate the roo.... It was too late the chic was dead, hard to see what exactly happened but a large portion of its back feathers were pulled out.
Sooooo wtf? Why? What should i do? He hasnt done it to any others and he seems fine now. Wtf?

I hate to tell you, but sometimes, just as with humans, nothing had to be wrong. I had a rooster kill a year old RI RED hen, then pull her head off. He's fine. Period. If he'll kill one youngster, he'll kill another. My guess is it was a young roo. And getting to clise to the herbs, maybe even trying to get way too close. They chase them off for awhile, then they will hurt them seriously and/or kill them, before they can become large enough to be a physical match in combat.
How much do you need the roo in question? If have gotten rid of him already.. No second chances. I have probably 10 here that have their pecking order figured out free range. I don't alliw the ones that

Makes sense, i hate to get rid of him cause he was such a boy right up til the other day.
And now the older hens are kinda being mean.
What happened all of a sudden to cause this aggression

The older hens are going to be mean. They eat first. They eat the best, and they drive that point in hard and often. Unless, or until that chick challenges and wins the right to to eat first. Roosters can be heinous hormone driven creatures. If you have two, and one dies, the other has a testosterone increase about 3-fold, and can become aggressive towards people he never bothered before. Everything with roosters depends on balance. Being raised together doesn't hurt, either, usually leading (depending on type) to survivable challenges. A new rooster dropped in the midst of my free running crew would be irreparably wounded and killed. Don't wish it was different. That roo will kill again... You're down two, now. I know how upsetting that is...

 

[AmyJane725]

The spring hatch was from april, the late spring hatch was just before june.
And the rooster did it again yesterday, and this time it was one of the young silkies! I cant tell yet which are roos or not out of both batches lol. I have him seperated now and hes not liking it.
And i should have plenty of room for them. The coop is shed style 12ftx10ft. The run is a covered 14ftx12ft. And they all free range my 20acre lot all they want

I’d rehome him or send him to freezer camp. He’s a killer.

 

[Mrs. K]

In the op, you stated you had 4 hens and a rooster that are 2 years old, this spring you increased your flock by 4 times that number. At this time, things are approaching full size and it sounds like tensions are rising in the flock.

There is kind of a pet theory that if animals are raised together, they will get along, but this is not true of chickens, and very often, as chickens grow up and take up more space, you get this rising in tension.

What does your run and coop look like, it sounds like you should have enough room. But regardless what we think and measure, your flock may be feeling too tight. And this is summer, in the dark days of winter, this will become much worse, as they are confined to the roost nearly 14 hours a day.

I think either the rooster needs to go, or some of the chicks? Try pulling some and check the tension in the flock, always solve for peace of the flock. It is no fun to have an upset flock, and fighting are always upsetting for all the birds, even the ones not in the chase.

Mrs K

 

[EggSighted4Life]

There is kind of a pet theory that if animals are raised together, they will get along, but this is not true of chickens, and very often, as chickens grow up and take up more space, you get this rising in tension.

Actually IMO... all animals living together will some disputes, they have just learned to tolerate each other. Please... I was raised with my siblings... Thank God I don't have to live with them forever!

Do not rehome a killer roo to be someone else's heartbreak when they lose a member of their flock. Not worth the risk!

So many things can go wrong with life, it's so intricate... maybe this guy has a tumor pressing on something is his brain giving him these raging outburst. If you don't want to dispatch his cocky little butt, then kenneling or separating is a good choice. Maybe you could dispatch and send for necropsy to see if something IS wrong with him.

Since he got separated... the older hens will also have a new pecking order to set. Things always get a little tense when someone is added or removed. Despite having 20 acres... the chickens are territorial to the space closer to their coop, I would imagine.

Are you SURE it's the rooster and not another predator??

I agree that it upsets the whole flock. And the keeper too, I'm sure!

 

[chickens really]

Well not the Roosters fault at all he was only doing what comes natural to him. Definitely separate the Cockerels from the flock before they mature..

 

[pollitohenhouse]

Yea, him and his 3 hens are seperate from the rest of the young flock. They both get differnt free range time, and everything seems fine now.... So far