My Polish rooster picks on only one out of the flock

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hulson

hulson

Chirping
Mar 18, 2015
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I am new to having chickens and have been lucky, up until now, I have not had any problems with the other hens or my rooster being aggressive. I have one Polish rooster, Roger, who was a sweet guy, until I let my four 13 week old chicks out to play in the yard with him and the other 16 hens. Everything was going fine until Roger saw, Omlet, my silkie. He grabbed it, drew blood from it, and tried to shake it. I felt like he was trying to possibly kill it. When I bought the four chicks at the feed store, they told me that Silkies were hard to sex, and she thought it was a female. Could my silkie be a roo and that is why Roger was being so mean to it? I have never seen him treat any of the other hens that way. I have attached a picture of Roger and two of Omlet.

 
Hi :welcome

Glad you could join the flock! Sorry to hear you have had problems with Roger and Omlet. Before you let them be together did you have them so they could see each and become aquainted but seperated by wire so they could not harm each other? This look but don't touch method is one I have found very useful. Your silkie may well be a male and Roger already knows it and this could be the problem too. Silkies are notoriously hard to sex. Often people not knowing untill they are 6 months old plus and even sometimes not untill they lay an egg or crow. Here is a link on adding new members to your flock ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-adding-to-your-flock
When adding new members there will be pecking order scuffles and it's always best to be ready to intervene. You could post some pics in the what breed gender section of the forum for help on sexing Omlet ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/15/what-breed-or-gender-is-this

Wishing you the very best of luck and enjoy BYC :frow
 
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Thank you for your reply Yorkshire Coop. Omlet has been in a wire coop for the last month. Often, I would catch Roger looking in the coop, but then he would walk away. I decided to put fencing up and split the chicken area in half. So, now Roger and Omlet have their own space with their own hens.

 
You came to a good conclusion on your own - just hope Roger can't hop in and dispense with poor omelet. Silkies tend to get picked on because they look so different but, so do Polish - they generally can be together just fine. I am guessing Roger does realize Omlet is a boy. If so Roger could make you some good money helping sex silkie chicks for others. No joke. It is extremely difficult to sex them. I would put my $$$ on Roger any day.
 
hulson said:
I am new to having chickens and have been lucky, up until now, I have not had any problems with the other hens or my rooster being aggressive. I have one Polish rooster, Roger, who was a sweet guy, until I let my four 13 week old chicks out to play in the yard with him and the other 16 hens. Everything was going fine until Roger saw, Omlet, my silkie. He grabbed it, drew blood from it, and tried to shake it. I felt like he was trying to possibly kill it. When I bought the four chicks at the feed store, they told me that Silkies were hard to sex, and she thought it was a female. Could my silkie be a roo and that is why Roger was being so mean to it? I have never seen him treat any of the other hens that way. I have attached a picture of Roger and two of Omlet.

Click to expand...
Omlet is a partridge colored hen. Since she does not have any dark red patches on the shoulders, or any black on the chest, she is not a rooster. Her color and pattern are strictly of the female variety.
 
Last edited:
Thank you Junebuggena! Best news I have heard all day. I wonder why my rooster finds her so offensive or threatening?
 

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