Hens pecking rooster

[AnitaBheer]

I have buff orpingtons, 7 hens and 1 rooster, all between 5 and 7 months old. All 7 hens are laying now and everyone seems to get along fine, the rooster treats his hens like a gentleman. However, he seems almost too nice because he will stand there and just let the hens peck his comb and wattles and neck by his ear flaps. Poor dude is starting to go bald under his ears. Not bleeding but red skin and pin feathers are showing

Should I try to do anything, like separating or blue kote? I feel like the pecking will only resume once things are normal again though.

 

[FunClucks]

They are "grooming" him because they like him. Not a whole lot you can do about it. If he gets his skin injured, you can try to cover it and medicate/blue kote. But his feathers may be a lost cause because he stands there and lets them do it. I had to put a chicken saddle on one of my roosters because the hens groomed him too much on his back and tail. I fixed the problem (mostly) by putting him with different hens. Now he's only with one hen that grooms him instead of multiple. He still looks ratty but his feathers have recovered somewhat after his most recent molt. His beard area has stayed pretty bare though. There's not a good safe way to cover that up. He looked pretty funny, all ratty with no tail and running around with a chicken saddle on.

Take pictures now of his gorgeousness before the hens destroy his feathers so you can remember his glory.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You might try putting some Vicks on his feathers around his face or the back of his head, I have heard this will repel thd hens a bit. But this is only hearsay. Avoid getting it in his eyes or ears or on his nares (nostrils).

 

[AnitaBheer]

They are "grooming" him because they like him. Not a whole lot you can do about it. If he gets his skin injured, you can try to cover it and medicate/blue kote. But his feathers may be a lost cause because he stands there and lets them do it. I had to put a chicken saddle on one of my roosters because the hens groomed him too much on his back and tail. I fixed the problem (mostly) by putting him with different hens. Now he's only with one hen that grooms him instead of multiple. He still looks ratty but his feathers have recovered somewhat after his most recent molt. His beard area has stayed pretty bare though. There's not a good safe way to cover that up. He looked pretty funny, all ratty with no tail and running around with a chicken saddle on.

Take pictures now of his gorgeousness before the hens destroy his feathers so you can remember his glory.

I wondered if it was a form of grooming since he isn't too concerned about it. Good to know its a sign they all get along at least. I'll keep an eye on it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I had something like that once. One hen was pecking feathers from the throat of my dominant rooster. He was just staying where he was, letting her. She had a small area cleared.

I locked him up in isolation overnight and let him rejoin the flock the next morning. I never saw that behavior again and his feathers grew back in a month or so. I don't know if that would help you or not. Good luck!