My roo is getting picked on!!!

[tbroui]

I bought 6 chicks in march from my local feed store. I ended up with 5 RIR hens and 1 standard blue Cochin....my baby . I also inherited a white rock hen and a black sex link roo from my dad. They're all about the same age as they were all "Easter" chicks. So far everyone's been happy until now. I started noticing my Cochin was always late coming off his roost.....like 10:00 late, and was always the 1st one to head in to the coop to roost at night. I'm pretty sure that today he never came off his perch. My mom noticed him there at 10 and then again at 12. When I came home from work at 6:30 he was still in the coop on the roost. I picked him up and put him in the run with the others. He headed straight for their food and chowed down. Poor baby was starving. But almost immediately the other rooster came running, flapping his wings and ran him off. Normal...I thought to myself. But then the hens starting violently pecking him. One even went so far as to roll him over on the ground. He eventually escaped them under the coop. At dark, he waited for everyone to roost, then went on in also. Advice on saving my baby???? Please!!!!

 

[newbie32]

If you have had them since March I would think that is plenty of time to establish pecking order. He is obviously at the bottom. I am new at this too but I feel bad for him just by your description of the incident. Rehome him to a great spot or give him his own coop and run with his own flock. IDK but sounds like it could get bloody and you don't want cannibalism to start. Have your hens started laying yet? have the males tried to mate yet?

Anyone else have a different method?

 

[tbroui]

The hens have started laying a couple weeks ago. Up until yesterday, both roo's have been mating

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Isn't there a significant difference in the size or athletic abilities of the two breeds you mentioned? If there are then the two roos may never reconcile. But as Under-Roo matures he could eventually dethrone his black sex link rival.

The hens are following the lead of the black sex link and are only fulfilling their hen ethos to the best of their chicken ability.. Someone here once said it better than me,
"Sometimes chicken society is painful to watch!"

It may help the the blue cochin rooster come into his own if you'll pen the black sex link him by himself and out of sight of his hens. This will allow the cochin to rise to the top of the pecking order, raising his self respect as a rooster.

Or they may never tolerate each other in this life or any other life and fight like the dickens when you reintroduce them. You have little to loose because the black sex link can't tolerate the blue cochin now, and as things stand the cochin is being slowly starved to death as part of the bargain.

None of this is the fault of the black sex link, this is just what happens when we humans expect animals to ape our illogical (illogical to the natural world) belief systems. Chickens have been acting like this ever since that big space rock that killed off the dinosaurs hit the Yucatan Peninsular. Things like this are what happens when humans restrict vastly differing varieties of the same animal species to a tiny space and then expect them to co-exist in peace and Christian brotherhood like ladies and gentlemen. Come to think of it we humans have never lived like we expect chickens to live, in peace.

The fault is ours for expecting a different outcome to a behavior that is over 65,000,000 years old, and in no way are the animals involved to blame..

 

[ChickenLegs13]

I bought 6 chicks in march from my local feed store. I ended up with 5 RIR hens and 1 standard blue Cochin....my baby . .................... Advice on saving my baby???? Please!!!!

Life's too short for chicken drama. Since the Chochin is your favorite, boot the block roo.

 

[tbroui]

Do you think that adding more hens so that they each have their own flock would help?

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Not unless you can keep each flock seperate from each other. Otherwise it would just be more chickens to pick on your Chochin.

 

[newbie32]

Do you think that adding more hens so that they each have their own flock would help?

I think adding a few Chochins might fix the problem. But that is my opinion

 

[donrae]

Life's too short for chicken drama. Since the Chochin is your favorite, boot the block roo.

I agree with this. cochins are known for being very docile, and if things are that bad for him at this age, I really don't see it getting a lot better. That's really not enough hens for two active roos, anyway, you're running the risk of overmated, stressed hens.