Let me preface this by saying that I'm a new chicken owner. My hens are 24 weeks old. I've had them since they were 2-3 days old. I purchased the rooster fairly recently. This is my first flock.
My 2-year-old rooster Lyle was introduced to my 24 hens about 9 days ago. As the only rooster, he seemed to fit in with the ladies right away. I've been pleased at how well he's done protecting them and keeping them in line. 2 days ago, I noticed that he had a little blood on his comb. Since he's enthusiastic about his manly duties, I figured that one of the hens had had enough of his attentions and pecked him. I didn't feel bad for him at all. It was the same yesterday too. He greeted me in the morning with some blood on his comb. No big deal.
Last night, I visited the chickens to top off their water and noticed that Lyle was bleeding a bit more from a wound on his head. He was scratching at it so I assumed that he'd just been picking at the older minor wounds and had just torn them open again. My husband offered to separate him from the flock, but he seemed absolutely fine. Still manly, still in charge and still quite happy. I told him I didn't think separating the rooster was necessary. I was wrong.
Fast forward to this morning. I opened the door to the coop to find my rooster's head matted with blood. He was lying on the floor of the coop and his breast and tail feathers were all bedraggled. He didn't have any interest in leaving the coop or in the fresh warm water I brought to him. We filled a dog crate with bedding and brought him into the garage. He had the energy to crow for 10-15 minutes before quieting. I'm hoping to keep an eye on him and let him heal before letting him join the girls again.
I guess my questions are as follows:
Would my chickens really hurt a mature rooster? If so, why would he allow such a thing?
Could he have caused these injuries by picking at his wounds?
Is there anything i can do to prevent this from happening again?
I'm in the coop ALOT. I visit 4-8 times a day and stay out there for 5-10 minutes each time. I haven't noticed any fighting.
My 2-year-old rooster Lyle was introduced to my 24 hens about 9 days ago. As the only rooster, he seemed to fit in with the ladies right away. I've been pleased at how well he's done protecting them and keeping them in line. 2 days ago, I noticed that he had a little blood on his comb. Since he's enthusiastic about his manly duties, I figured that one of the hens had had enough of his attentions and pecked him. I didn't feel bad for him at all. It was the same yesterday too. He greeted me in the morning with some blood on his comb. No big deal.
Last night, I visited the chickens to top off their water and noticed that Lyle was bleeding a bit more from a wound on his head. He was scratching at it so I assumed that he'd just been picking at the older minor wounds and had just torn them open again. My husband offered to separate him from the flock, but he seemed absolutely fine. Still manly, still in charge and still quite happy. I told him I didn't think separating the rooster was necessary. I was wrong.
Fast forward to this morning. I opened the door to the coop to find my rooster's head matted with blood. He was lying on the floor of the coop and his breast and tail feathers were all bedraggled. He didn't have any interest in leaving the coop or in the fresh warm water I brought to him. We filled a dog crate with bedding and brought him into the garage. He had the energy to crow for 10-15 minutes before quieting. I'm hoping to keep an eye on him and let him heal before letting him join the girls again.
I guess my questions are as follows:
Would my chickens really hurt a mature rooster? If so, why would he allow such a thing?
Could he have caused these injuries by picking at his wounds?
Is there anything i can do to prevent this from happening again?
I'm in the coop ALOT. I visit 4-8 times a day and stay out there for 5-10 minutes each time. I haven't noticed any fighting.