Is this feather damage and wounds from too many cockerels/too aggressive cockerels?

[HeatherKellyB]

 

[Wezdin]

What age is the hen? It is probably from the roosters spurs. How many roosters are in the pen with her?

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I am super upset at myself about this. I didn't even realize she was wounded. She is my most sensitive pullet and I nearly lost her not too long (thanks to some AMAZING members here that figured out what was going on in time to save her). I normally separate my 2 silkies and Barred bantam cochin (all 3 are cockerels) from the girls, but I wasn't on top of things like I should have been, on several occasions lately. My poor girls. The cockerels are going about mating in the worst way possible and they make me so flipping frustrated because of how different they are from the way I've always heard a rooster is to his ladies. The largest silkie does not even try to be good to the girls. He watches and follows closely for them to get preoccupied with something so he can basically attack them! Ugh! Now my sweet cochin (he was evil in the brooder but turned out to be a complete sweetheart to humans once he got the space he needed outside) is learning from watching the crazy silkie. I feel like calling him a rapist, but I don't want to offend anyone

 

[HeatherKellyB]

What age is the hen? It is probably from the roosters spurs. How many roosters are in the pen with her?

This pullet and cockerels are 30 weeks old and 29 weeks old. 3 cockerels (three too many!!!) are in a mixed flock. They sleep together in a coop and I separate the boys from the girls during the day. Several times I have been lazy and left the boys in with the girls a few hours on several occasions.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I wanted to make sure this was from the boys and not another pullet being a bully or something

 

[Wezdin]

Most likely from a cockerel, especially from that place on the back. On a positive note it looks to have started healing nicely!

 

[Mtnboomer]

Looks like over breeding

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Thank you both. I thought this might be what was going on here, but this is my first time seeing it in real life. I wanted to make sure so I can proceed accordingly. Thanks again. I really appreciate your help

 

[aart]

It is probably from the roosters spurs.

Toenails.

all 3 are cockerels

Multiple males bring out the worst of all their behaviors.
Get rid of 2, or all 3.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This pullet and cockerels are 30 weeks old and 29 weeks old.

Look at the cockerels' legs. Notice how many spurs they have on each leg and how long and sharp those spurs are. Then look at their talons. Notice how many there are and how long and sharp they are. Think about what they are standing on when they are mating the pullets. I think it will be pretty clear as to what causes the problem.

You say your Silkie is the worst or at least pretty bad. To me that reinforces that breed is not nearly as important to behaviors as the personality of the individual bird. Silkies are often spoken of as always so gentle and non-aggressive.

What you describe is somewhat typical cockerel behavior, though more severe than I generally observe. I didn't see you mention how many pullets you have with the three cockerels but to me that's not really important. I raise my pullets and cockerels with the flock, often with twice as many cockerels as pullets. That kind of stuff is hardly ever a problem. But I have a lot of room (think between 50 and 400 square feet per chicken, depending on how many chickens I have at the time) and I generally have a mature rooster and a handful of mature hens in with them. Different circumstances so different results.

Most of the time when cockerels and pullets mature into roosters and hens things calm down a lot. Some never grow up but most do. But getting there can be hard. You obviously have a dangerous situation.

Why do you want those boys? What are your goals in regard to those cockerels? The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Everything else is personal preference. Nothing wrong with personal preference, that can be a strong motivating force. But it is a want, not a need. I generally recommend you keep as few males as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems with more males, but because problems are more likely. You are experiencing that "more likely" right now. Even when they mature you could still see these problems. What you do should be driven by your goals, not mine or anyone else's.

So what are your options. Since she is wounded I'd immediately remove all three boys, at least until she heals up.

You can house them all separately until they mature more. They are already seven months, mine often calm down by then. But I'd give them at least two more months before I tried mixing them with the girls again. How long to try is purely arbitrary, you don't get guarantees on behaviors. This may never work.

After she heals you can try putting one of them back with the girls. See how it goes. Sometimes the lack of competition can calm things down. Or he may have matured a bit. Keep the others separated.

You can keep them forever in a separate bachelor flock, either all three or two of them. That often works, never let them near the girls again.

You can permanently remove one, two, or all three from your flock. Sell them, give them away, or eat them. Donate them to a zoo or wildlife rescue to be used as food. It's amazing how calm an all-girls flock can be.

I don't know what the right answer is for you. But I'm afraid you have some tough decisions coming up. Good luck!