Inexperienced Rooster Damage

[M Brennen]

I just pulled my older hen from the coop as she has practically been descalped by my young roosters (I have two and both were on her). My question is, I have 38 young girls also with the roosters and I don’t want the same thing to happen again. Besides separating the roosters out, is there anything else I can do to protect them?

 

[Chickie friend]

There are things called hen saddles which protect their back. What's your hen:rooster ratio? A lot of times you need to have 1:10 or 12. (Not my pic)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'd seperate the males. They may just be clumsy or they may be aggressive breeders

 

[Chickenman MAN]

Yeah, when roosters try to breed they jump on the hens back and peck back and neck feathers, they also scratch at her back.

 

[M Brennen]

It’s not the back, they have torn open her neck. I am hoping the skin will attach back without stitches. We had this happen to another hen (and another rooster) before. It only happened to one of the hens then. The hen survived, but she had an area where the feathers never grew back. We were eventually able to put her back with the others. I have been watching this bunch and they seemed to be quick and gentle. This one hen is my old girl who is pretty docile. Going into the winter, I really dont have another safe place to separate the roosters and I prefer they all stay together. If I find that it happens to more hens, I will need to separate. I just wasn’t sure if ther is a way to protect the the rest of them.