I'm a newbie here from Guston, KY

[Determinedladee]

3 weeks ago we were given 8 birds. 2 Roosters one of which is over 2 years old and he is a Rhode Island Red. He shares a coop with his lady who is also a RIR and the same age. Upon receiving them all the RIR hen looked so battered, feathers missing around her neck, cone was very pale, it was sad but with some tlc and feather fixer and him having his spurs removed everything seems to be fine but the rooster is just so mean its unreal and he's been allowed to have this behavior because the previous owners didn't correct it. Is it too late to try and correct this behavior? He comes for you and won't let up enough to try and hold him. What else can I do?

 

[Determinedladee]

The other six are bantoms and are secluded from both the RIR''s. I was told that they try an attack them. The bantoms are 5 months old.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

How sad! No, there is no correcting his mean behavior, however I will tell you that the proper ratio of roosters to hens is 1 rooster to 10 to 12 hens. Any less and the roo can mate them to death. So this may be a case of a rough roo and or you do not have enough hens.

So keep him separate from her and either get more hens for his harem, or rehome him and get more hens. But don't let him mate with her for now.

Good luck and welcome to our flock!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC.

 

[gander007]

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! X2 what TwoCrows said. Mean roos like that are pretty much impossible to rehabilitate, and hatchery RIR have a bad reputation even for roosters. If you do decide to keep him you will need more hens for him or keep him separated from the girl most of the time, and if you have little children around, be very careful as they can be quite dangerous to little kids.. You might like to check out the BYC Learning Center, lots of good articles on all aspects of chicken keeping. https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

Glad you joined!

 

[Determinedladee]

Thanks everyone for the welcome. When you say to add more hens does it matter if they are RIR'S? Should the hen's be older than the 7 I already have. Good grief I have 2 Roo's in a flock of 7 hens. I need more hen's for sure.