Mutiny on the bounty

[Bookspryte]

Something drastic happened with my flock yesterday while we were out. My subordinate roo, RJ (EE), and my dominant roo, Travis (BR), got into a tussle of some sort. When we returned home, both were bloody and it seems that RJ had overthrown Travis.

They grew up together and while there have been brief squabbles in the past, nothing major.

What disturbs me is Travis spent the rest of the day off in the yard by himself, looking dejected. It made me want to cry seeing how pitiful he looked. The problem is that RJ is not a good flock husband. The girls (all 12 of them) were wandering around the yard and RJ was making no attempt to keep them together like Travis always did. When birds flew overhead, he gave no warning sounds.

My question is what is best for my flock. To remove RJ and let Travis take back over his girls? Or to put Travis in a new coop and give him girls of his own? If I do, will the girls follow him or has he been permanently banned to the bottom of the pecking order? I love this guy and it broke my heart to see him so dejected. He's always been so proud and sure of himself.

I had always planned to use him for breeding. He makes beautiful babies and I hoped to get a bunch of pure BR and I'm wondering if this is the time to start my breeding program and just let RJ keep the mixed flock so I'll end up with all EE from that coop.

Also, unlike everyone else, I have a BO hen from Hades. I can pick her up and carry her around and she's fine. But the moment I put her down, she pinches my legs. I've got blood blisters all over the front of my legs from her pinching me. I hate to kill her, but I'm just about at my wit's end.

Any suggestions (and even sympathy) will be welcome.

Denise

 

[wegotchickens]

Put the mean hen in with the mean roo and let Mr Stud have his harem back. He'll be in charge again once the other guy is gone (that's been my experience with my roos).
I would always take the gentleman and lookout over a stronger roo that's just a bully.

 

[jeffro29]

Our ee roo is mean and just gets worse he is rough on our hens and isnt all that good of a protector. I removed him from his bunch of hens and just put him with his own ee hens and he is still a bully. My buff orp rooster got out and there was a bad fight my buff lost an eye and was very dejected in the pecking order. After all the trouble i like the ee chicks but it is time for him to be replaced. I dont have a hen that is mean like yours sorry, but I think it might be just cause to put her with your roo and a couple of other hens and maybe you might have piece again. It took a couple of weeks for everything to work back out here so hopefully your will get better fairly soon after you seperate them good luck. jeff

 

[sourland]

Either get rid of the EE or split into two seperate flocks. Whichever scenario works best for you. They will not live peacefully from now on.

 

[Sissy]

I have a silkie roo thats a mean one
and only 6 months old. I did just that gave him
a few lady friends and he seems to be ok but does
a flip on his beak when he gets cranky.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I say bag the EE roo and the mean hen. They'll taste delicious.

.....Alan.

 

[SallyF]

Sounds like chicken soup and fricassee to me. I agree with the last post. If the head roo isn't doing his job, dump him.

 

[catwalk]

I feel bad for Travis, too, poor guy! I'd get rid of the meanie roo. As for the hen, can you give her a little pitch away from you when you put her down? And when she comes after you, put your foot against her and give her a boot (don't kick her). I booted a mean roo into a fence a couple of times, and he calmed down quickly. Good luck!
Liz

 

[Bookspryte]

I'm feeling much better today than I did this time yesterday. When I got home from work, DH told me RJ had been chasing Travis off and on most of the day. Once I got home, though, it all stopped.

Travis stuck to me like a dog at heel. I guess he knew I'd put myself between him and RJ. But it never came to that.

Once everything settled down for the night, I pulled RJ out of the coop and put him in "bad rooster jail." He never struggled or tried to fight. He just stayed in my arms whilc I carried him across the yard.

So now Travis is the main man in the main coop with all the ladies to himself. (Is a 1 rooster to 12 hens too much? Can he cover them all?)

I'll still have to decide what to do with RJ. He's never been mean to humans and has always deferred to me, so I had banishing him to death. I'll think about it. In the meantime, everyone is safe.

I even handled my problem buff. She came up and pinched my leg. So I smacked her. She pinched again and I smacked her again. I told her I was going to keep it up as long as she did. She stared at me for a few seconds and then walked away. She's a good layer and one of only two buffs so I'm not anxious to put her down, either. I guess I'll have to repeat the "who's in charge" lesson a few more times until she gets it.

Thanks for all the suggestions and moral support.

When you've raised them from day-olds, it's not easy to make the decision to pull the plug.

Denise

 

[catwalk]

Good for you! I'm so glad your problems are working out!