Hen stopping rooster from eating (and other things)

[DonyaQuick]

My rooster Ziggy is a very nice guy; I’ve had him for about a month and he’s been with the ladies for about half that time. 3 of my 6 hens love him. Of the other 3, one completely over the top LOVES him, one is nervous slowly warming up, and the last one is having some issues. She was initially just indifferent to him and ignored his dances, but in the last couple of days has started to block Ziggy from eating out of the feeders. Tonight she also flying jump-kicked him off the back of the hen that loves him most. My hen with issues is Dingus, my girl with some vision issues, so maybe she thought she was defending then – I have no idea. However, I don’t feel like that can be an excuse for the feeder guarding though; she’s clearly figured out that he turns into a statue if a hen comes over when he’s eating, so she just parks next to him until he gives up and leaves to do something else. I hand fed him tonight to make sure he got a good meal before bed. I’m not sure what to do about this. I’m aware that periodically giving him a private meal time doesn’t solve the actual issue, but if I just leave it to work itself out then I will have a sweet but cranky rooster desperately trying to eat any colored dot, stray thread, or bit of fuzz he sees on my clothing every time I go in the enclosure. I can’t just put feed up high since the hen in question is almost as tall as he is – she’s a big girl. Is there some other quick solution I’m missing?

I’ve tried searching here and elsewhere since this surely can’t be a unique issue, but I just turn up things to do with aggressive roosters, which is the opposite of my problem.

 

[sourland]

I'd add additional feed and water stations.

 

[DonyaQuick]

I'd add additional feed and water stations.

I've got 3 feeders and 2 waterer bowls right now. My rooster uses 2 of the 3 feeders but the hen has been blocking him from both; she runs over as soon as she sees him eating. Water hasn't been an issue, just the feed. I can't easily add more feed locations without them being either right next to the existing ones or in a place where the feed will get wet when it rains. I might be able to swap one of the feeders the rooster uses with the one he doesn't to get the ones he does use farther apart and therefore harder for that one hen to notice.

 

[aart]

I'd remove the blocking hen.
Put her in a crate in the run.
Try it for a few hours, longer if she doesn't shape up.

 

[Mrs. K]

It is not only important to have multiple feeders, but to have them so that a bird eating at one station, cannot see a bird eating at another station. Mini walls really don't have to be much, a large piece of cardboard or plywood, a pallet, even a tote layer on it's side.

It is important to have places birds can step out of sight of each other, get away from each other. When a lower bird approaches a higher bird, the lower bird needs to 'bow to the queen' by moving away. Often times in wide open runs, there is no place to bow, and that make the queen madder, and she attacks harder and harder to prove her point.

I have multiple generations in my flock and set up. I have watched numerous times, where the lower bird moves off and out of sight, and within seconds rejoins and eats at the same bowl.

But seriously, I think this issue will solve itself, he is slowly moving up in the flock, and eventually he will win miss cranky too.

Mrs K

 

[DonyaQuick]

Seems a temporary solution on the feed issue may be spilling/throwing a bunch on the ground (discovered by accident). If Dingus comes over to be a pain, Ziggy doesn't stop eating when there are crumbles all over the place since he can just move over a few inches. Well...it'll be more feed waste than I want but I would rather lose some into the deep litter than have Ziggy asking for a hug so he can try to eat my sleeves. I also re-arranged the feeders and that seems to have helped a bit too.

I wasn't able to try isolating Dingus yesterday because the weather was horrible. Unfortunately things have evolved a bit. I now have both her and my 2nd largest hen deciding that Ziggy is not allowed to mate with any of the others. Those two get mad the instant another hen squats by him. What's weird is that they were fine with him doing his thing last week. So now my entire flock is a bit grouchy. I guess this is the flip side of having such a docile rooster...a hen violently kicks him in the face and he just picks himself up and dances for her.

 

[Mrs. K]

Try not to interfere unless there is blood. It really is much better for them to work it out in the long run, and sometimes when people interfere, they actually prolong it. A couple of roosters ago, mine roosted on the bench for almost two weeks, before they let him up on the roost with them. It just takes time, and generally it is good for a rooster to do just what he is doing, working his way up the ladder.

Send a picture of your run, it might be that you need more clutter in your run? maybe not, but a lot of times that will really help birds get along.

Mrs K

 

[DonyaQuick]

Try not to interfere unless there is blood. It really is much better for them to work it out in the long run, and sometimes when people interfere, they actually prolong it. A couple of roosters ago, mine roosted on the bench for almost two weeks, before they let him up on the roost with them. It just takes time, and generally it is good for a rooster to do just what he is doing, working his way up the ladder.

I was probably too optimistic that things had already worked out so fast. One of my hens decided by about the 2nd day that Ziggy was the best present I'd ever gotten her and I hoped the calm for a bit meant they were all fine. Perhaps my larger, more dominant girls were just being nice for a while out of uncertainty more than anything else. They are all sleeping together inside the coop though.

Send a picture of your run, it might be that you need more clutter in your run? maybe not, but a lot of times that will really help birds get along.

I've been doing some work on that the last few days - up until recently it was pretty much just an open space with one log and one chair over the winter. Only today did I get some other things sorted out in there that I've been trying to figure out for a bit. I can't add too much though or it will become tough to clean even during the summer when I periodically need to turn over and/or rake out areas (already will be needing to do that soon with the amount of feed they're letting get mixed in).

My setup is in 2 halves with a connector: secure area on the left and daytime-only extension on the right with a little connector. Please excuse the nasty WIP drainage/walkway mess.

This is inside the extension.

The silly low bar is basically just for Dingus, who has exactly zero chance of getting onto that higher one. Both bars are new additions.

Today I added a leaning section of board to make a little sneaky tunnel sort of thing (ziptied on so it can't fall). A couple have already made use of it as a place to go eat tasty things that they don't want to share.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think it is a nice set up. I have some things set in the middle, a large box, with the opening to the south (our prevailing wind tends to come from the west and North) By putting it in the center, it blocks the vision cross the run, and it is relatively easy to clean around. Just an idea.

We are quite dry here, so a lot of the time, I just make mini haystacks, and sprinkle an edge with scratch, the birds will turn it for me, breaking up manure so it drys out. I do it in the coop during the winter too.

Mrs K

 

[3KillerBs]

already will be needing to do that soon with the amount of feed they're letting get mixed in

What does your feeder look like?

A traditional metal hanging feeder with the deep pan and inward-rolled lip minimized spillage.

When I find that my birds are spilling too much feed I simply don't refill the feeder until they've cleaned up what's on the ground.