Hen pecked roosters

Chris H.

Chirping
Oct 2, 2017
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56
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i have two young white top hat roosters that are in with a flock of three Rhode Island hens and three ISA Brown hens and five Cornish x chickens. They are all the same age. I noticed the two top hats had blood on their heads one day and by the next day it was a total mess. I separated them out and cleanthe wounds with peroxide and then covered with Neosporin ointment. I watch them for a few hours and noticed it was mostly one hen called white butt but a few others also pecked them here and there. So my question is what caused it and what can I do to prevent it? They were moved into a bigger coop the day after it started. And now they are separated.
that's two different roosters.
 
The same thing happened a couple of times a year to my 2 polish hens from the time they were a couple of months old. I always used separation, plain neosporin ointment for a couple of days, and then when returning to the flock, BluKote every other day for a month until their feathers grew back in. One hen was brutally attacted by a young cockerel who had tried to mate her and scalped, but even she fully healed. Polish or other crested birds don't always do well in mixed flocks, so I won't get any again. They were sweet birds, but one of mine was blinded in one eye by the chickens, and both eventually were killed 2 years apart by hawks. I hope your 2 guys heal well.
 
The same thing happened a couple of times a year to my 2 polish hens from the time they were a couple of months old. I always used separation, plain neosporin ointment for a couple of days, and then when returning to the flock, BluKote every other day for a month until their feathers grew back in. One hen was brutally attacted by a young cockerel who had tried to mate her and scalped, but even she fully healed. Polish or other crested birds don't always do well in mixed flocks, so I won't get any again. They were sweet birds, but one of mine was blinded in one eye by the chickens, and both eventually were killed 2 years apart by hawks. I hope your 2 guys heal well.
Thanks for the info. I got them for the kids since they wanted pet chickens as the rest are either egg layers or meat chickens. I don't think I will get breed again either. I do plan on expanding my run area. And divide with smaller coops so I can have different fowl like turkeys and ducks so maybe then I could have some show chickens for kids then. So what is BluKote never heard of it. Is it a distasteful thing to parent other chickens from plucking or a med?
 
Well I have my two polish roosters separated from flock for a week now. Been putting antibiotics on their heads. Seems to be doing well but feathers still missing. I bought blukote and wondered how long I should wait to reintroduce them to the flock?
 
Wait until they are fully healed and feathers are growing back, or if you have to put them back sooner apply Hotpick to the bare areas. You might also try tying their crest feathers back for a while which can make it easier for Polish to defend themselves. Eventually those roosters will probably fight with the hens to procure mating rights, and once they win the problems with pecking should go away. How old are they, btw?
 
Wait until they are fully healed and feathers are growing back, or if you have to put them back sooner apply Hotpick to the bare areas. You might also try tying their crest feathers back for a while which can make it easier for Polish to defend themselves. Eventually those roosters will probably fight with the hens to procure mating rights, and once they win the problems with pecking should go away. How old are they, btw?
Thanks for the reply. I just don't like that they are all alone. Seem sad! Anyway they are 9 weeks old. Problem is I just built a new coop and run that will hold 24 chickens and I have 7 older hens that are 21 weeks old, then 8 hens and these two roosters that are 9 weeks old, then five Cornish X that are 5 weeks old and finally 4 faverolles that are 5 weeks old. The older hens have a small coop in a large run right now. The 9 week olds and the Cornish X all live in new coop. I just finished the run yesterday so they will be able to go outside today. I tried to put the faverolles in with them but they got bullied too much. They are now in coop but in a cage separated from the others. The one polish rooster is in a cage next to them but the other is in a cage in the run are all by hisself. He can see the older Hens. I was hoping to combine the roosters and the faverolles in once I open the coop to the run. Gives them room to run away. The run is predator proof so will stay open at night. I hope to combine all the flocks into one someday. I like to link the old run to the new coop once that happens so they hve lots of room. Next spring I plan on fencing in another area and putting avian netting over it so they have two large outdoor runs that I can rotate so I can keep grass in both. We have huge hawk problem so I can't let them free range with out supervision so need large runs. I just hate keep so many cages and different flocks. Not going lye, hate cleaning six different water and feeders everyday. I am training them to use nips to drink right now and once they start using them I going to put in water lines from a hose with nips so no more cleaning water stations. I am also making wall feeders that I can pour in from the outside of coop and they should hold a full bag of feed.
 
Thanks for the reply. I just don't like that they are all alone. Seem sad! Anyway they are 9 weeks old. Problem is I just built a new coop and run that will hold 24 chickens and I have 7 older hens that are 21 weeks old, then 8 hens and these two roosters that are 9 weeks old, then five Cornish X that are 5 weeks old and finally 4 faverolles that are 5 weeks old. The older hens have a small coop in a large run right now. The 9 week olds and the Cornish X all live in new coop. I just finished the run yesterday so they will be able to go outside today. I tried to put the faverolles in with them but they got bullied too much. They are now in coop but in a cage separated from the others. The one polish rooster is in a cage next to them but the other is in a cage in the run are all by hisself. He can see the older Hens. I was hoping to combine the roosters and the faverolles in once I open the coop to the run. Gives them room to run away. The run is predator proof so will stay open at night. I hope to combine all the flocks into one someday. I like to link the old run to the new coop once that happens so they hve lots of room. Next spring I plan on fencing in another area and putting avian netting over it so they have two large outdoor runs that I can rotate so I can keep grass in both. We have huge hawk problem so I can't let them free range with out supervision so need large runs. I just hate keep so many cages and different flocks. Not going lye, hate cleaning six different water and feeders everyday. I am training them to use nips to drink right now and once they start using them I going to put in water lines from a hose with nips so no more cleaning water stations. I am also making wall feeders that I can pour in from the outside of coop and they should hold a full bag of feed.
You should be able to put them all together eventually, but it will take a little time. It's pretty normal that the older birds are attacking the younger birds. Once they are all grown up things will even out, hopefully. It sounds like you have been thoughtful and done everything you can for them so it's just gonna take patience. You could probably keep at least the Polish and Faverolles together in the near future since both are easy going breeds.
 

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