My Hens Attacked Their Rooster

[latwell2571]

I came home this afternoon to find my rooster in fairly bad shape. My boyfriend said he was attacked by his 8 hens. They had torn out most of his tail and rear feather and he was bleeding quite a bit. I found a pecked out egg in the coop and we do have one broody (albeit very young hen), but I'm not certain he is the culprit. The entire flock is only 6 months old and in the hens defense, he is not a gentle rooster with his ladies. Any ideas on why this happened or if they'll except him again? I have him isolated to recover at the moment.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Oh no, how is your boy doing today?


All it takes is for your head hen to go after him and the rest will follow - backing up their boss.

Once he is better, I would section him off a secure area in the run for the day (with shade and where the girls cannot get him) and put him in a small dog crate at night, placing the crate in the coop with the girls.


Give them some time - a week/month - you will need to watch to see how long - to get to know each other safely. If he is a very young roo/cockerel - this will give him time to mature and start to court the girls. Watch and you will see him call them for treats, when the girls start responding - I would turn him out with them when I had a full day to watch and step in if there where problems.

 

[latwell2571]

Thank you for the info! He is doing better. These hens and roo were all born and raised together, so they are familiar. However, he is not a gentle rooster with his ladies by any means (ie no courting, just taking). If the head hen is also the broody hen (they're all only 6 months old, but I have one very broody girl), and if he is the one that busted an egg, I'm gonna guess that may be what got him in trouble. I did separate him in a dog crate til he healed up. At the moment, they all seem to be friends again. I'm watching closely. We'll see. Thanks for the helpful info.

 

[dogdollar]

Sounds like the girls got fed up with his BS and decided to put a big pop-knot on his head !!!

DD