hen is attacking the roosters

[koda55533]

i have and older hen who today started to attack one of my roosters. they free range all day and i have three older hens that don't want to go into the coop/run at night so i usually wait until it is dark to catch them and put them in the coop. well this evening i was out reading on the front porch and i hear the cage of the run crashing. i look over and one of the older hens is by the run and her and a rooster are fighting through the cage (one on each side). i go up there and grab the hen and see that the rooster is bleeding by the comb and waddle. so i let them cool down and like 5 minutes later i put the hen in the run but i have a stick to seperate them if they fight again. i also have to say that i have 3 roosters that i have been trying to get rid of but i don't have the heart to kill and eat them

anyway, she then attacks the closest rooster and i grab her and now she is running around the yard ... so my question is what do i do and why is she doing this? i think i am going to keep her in the extra portable cage for the night and see what happens tomorrow when i let them out to free range but i don't want them to keep fighting! if anyone can shed some light on this issue i will realllllly appreciate it!

 

[sourland]

The three roosters are probably bothering the hens and attempting to gang breed them. The hen is just protecting herself from their unwanted attentions. Multiple young roosters in the flock frequently harass the hens-- this is probably why the hens do not want to enter the coop at night. The solution-- simple, get rid of the cockerels.

 

[madmantrapper]

When I had roosters, I found having more then one was asking for trouble. All they did was fight. I don't have any roosters anymore because they are all nuts, can't be trusted especially around young kids.

 

[koda55533]

well it is only the older hens that don't want to go in at night but the younger ones are just fine and don't put up any kind of fight to go back into the coop but i don't know .... they seem to be fine this morning