Hen attacked by rooster

[HENrietta's House]

We have six hens (1-2 years old) and one BR roo (1 yr). They have all been together since last summer. Just last night, we noticed the roo attack our 2-yr RIR hen. It looked like he was just asserting dominance, but it has continued into today and is getting bloody. (We did move the chickens last night from their winter coop to summer coop, but the attacking started before the move.) Should we isolate the hen to heal? Should we just let them handle it on their own? The rooster is sitting in a nest box watching and whenever the hen moves, he corners her and attacks. Just now, she is up on the roost flapping her wings??? Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[easttxchick]

I would isolate the rooster-he is the one being a jerk.
Treat the injuries of the hen and apply some type of no pick stuff where her wounds are so the others don't continue pecking her.

 

[sourland]

Remove the rooster for a week or so. When you reintroduce if the behavior continues into the crockpot with him. No excuse for roosters beating up on hens.

 

[HENrietta's House]

Thank you for your posts! This started by the hen going after the rooster! The rooster finally had enough and went after the hen. (She was at the top of the pecking order when the rooster arrived (as a pullet) last summer. They were fine until just this weekend... It seems she thinks she still belongs at the top.) For now, we're isolating the hen to make sure the others don't peck at her when she's down. The rooster is fine with the rest of the girls, and they seem happier with him around. (They all follow him around and we like him there to warn them of hawks, etc.) We let them all out to free-range (pre-isolation) and he chased her far from the rest of the flock. Now, she is roosting in the corner of the coop while the rest are all out. We're building a chicken-wire partition for part of the coop (for the hen) -- will that work for isolation since they will still be able to see each other, or do we need to block it off with plywood or even figure out another enclosure for her entirely? Any tips on how to reintroduce her to the flock? Thank you! Would it be better to take the rooster out and leave her with the rest of the flock? (He's too tall for the enclosure area we have... so that's another part of the reason we chose to put the hen in there.) Thanks again!