Help with my flock

Shadowfire

Crowing
Aug 14, 2018
802
3,733
327
USA
My Coop
My Coop
Hello everyone, I have three chickens in my flock, two of which are hens (Peanut and Plumps). My rooster (Yin) did not like the hen ever since we got her, but will accept the other hen he was raised with (Plumps). He will chase her around, nip at her, bite her crest, and sometimes he will maim her crest. She is in a separate pen right next to Yin's, and has been there for over half a year, and the condition is not improving. How can I stop this so he will accept the hen?
 
The rooster's behavior will not change and if you want him to get along with your hen you will have to keep them together and hope for the best. If he draws blood and it doesn't work out then either the rooster or hen will have to go, otherwise nothing is going to change. Keeping chickens on the other side of the fence when integrating doesn't quite work for me either.
 
I dont think there is any way to make your rooster like your hen.
I have only had one rooster with that issue.
My rooster DUDE treated all his girls very well, fed them all the treets, was gentle with them and looked out for preditors. The problem was he did not like the 3 jap banty hens i had. He wouldent chase them and beat them up but, If they wandered very close to him he would attack them.
I would yell at him every time he did it in my presence (yes, he knew his name and knew i was yelling at him) but his behavior did not change.
You may have to rehome her to give her a better life, or switch roosters.
 
What age were the initial pair when you added Peanut and how old was she? Are they free ranging a large area when you try all three together? Confined to a run? Two hens really isn't much of a harem for the average rooster. Is he running Peanut ragged as part of trying to mate with her or is he simply trying to aggressively drive her off? My initial reaction would be to try putting Yin in the separate pen and keep the two hens together (if they're peaceable with one another) to see if that doesn't sweeten his attitude towards Peanut a little in time. Sounds almost as though Yin views Peanut as an interloper in his established little mini flock. That might change if the two hens are the ones that bond and become the mini flock.

(Edited because I mixed up your hens' names!)
 
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