I think my rooster is injuring the hens.

[chanceosunshine]

I have a lone rooster from a bachelor group. He's around two years old. He lost his buddy to a predator so I went and got him some hens. Three hens are 8 months old and the other two are over a year old. I noticed that one younger hen had a huge wound on her side, but that after a couple of days it was looking better. I actually thought that maybe a hawk had grabbed her or something?? Today I looked at her and her side is absolutely awful. I took her from the pen and put her in solitary confinement. I thought maybe I should give her one of her flock mates to keep her company so I went and grabbed another young one. Under her feathers I can see that, she too, is ripped up.
So, it has to be the rooster, right?? He's ripping them up with his spurs when he mounts them, I guess?? I got a picture of one of the hens. It's not the best picture, but you should be able to see what I'm talking about.
What can I do to stop this beside an apron? Can I trim his spurs?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Put a saddle/apron on all your hens. That will stop that. It's normal.

You did say something about a huge wound? Like, with blood? If that's the case, I still suggest the saddle, but also, keep a close eye on the rooster. Check how the hens are around him, and check for wounds in other places like the neck.

It is completely normal for the balding on the back, and occasionally a wound on the back as well, but if it appears common, there could be a bigger issue. I had a rooster who started putting holes in a couple of the hens' backs. Thought nothing of it, or that it was something to be concerned about until I discovered one of the hens was scared to death of the rooster. To show her that the rooster was fine, I held her while the rooster came over. To my shock, the rooster viciously pecked the hen's neck so hard that he instantly drew blood! I quickly removed the rooster from the flock until I needed him to breed, then later rehomed. That rooster had picked certain hens as his prey, so he wasn't bad to all.

Keep an eye out for any aggressive, non-mating, abnormal behaviors. Again, put a saddle/apron on your hens. Something else that would help is get more hens to even him out.

 

[coach723]

Yes, you can trim his spurs. I do mine pretty regularly, they can get very long and sharp.
https://www.cacklehatchery.com/how-to-trim-a-roosters-spurs-and-how-not-to/
5 hens to one roo is probably not enough and your girls are going to be over mounted and get rough looking. Good numbers can vary from flock to flock depending on your roo's temperament, but 10 to 1 is generally considered a good number. You can use hen saddles or aprons, but I would let the ones that are injured heal up first, the saddle might rub. I would separate the roo for a while, let the girls get a break and heal up.

 

[chanceosunshine]

Thank you for the replies. I've never experienced this before from a rooster. Currently we have two flocks. The other flock is also a rooster with five hens and it seemed like a good hen to rooster ratio.
This rooster was supposed to be dinner but he was sweet and I was soft. I haven't seen any aggression from him towards the hens at all. The two older hens aren't ripped up at all but the three younger ones are.
There's definitely blood and I'm really shocked that she's acting ok. It's a bad wound. I'll trim the spurs and get some aprons. Thank you. Oh, and I'll have to look at getting more hens once I expand their coop.