My rooster attacked my Hen!!!! Help!!!

[Reurra]

I have a young rooster, hes about 8 months old. I have had him separated for a month now from the girls, but within eyeshot of them. he can see them and they could see him.

I did introductions yesterday and everything was fine until today. At some point today, my rooster attacked one of my girls. The back of her comb is nearly torn off, theres blood everywhere.

She is my dominant hen so i think they had a tussle and she came out the loser, I found her huddling by the water dish, her head covered in blood.

I cleaned up the blood and liberally covered her comb and abover her eyes with polysporine for now.

Im worried though, is tis something the rooster is going to keep doing? He didnt seem nasty to the other 2 hens he was living with before getting put in with my 4 egg layers.

When he was introduced, he kept doing this spastic little dance, kind of like what a roo does when he is flirting with a hen. His wing would go down and the opposite leg would kick around uncontrollably. It looks like he isnt quite coordinated yet, but could it be that that was a sign of aggression?

Every roo I have had before him drops their wing but does not dance when they are being aggressive. This looked like he was trying to dance instead.

Ive separated him out and he is back in his old run alone now. I think a week alone might change his attitude, but Im hesitant to put him back in with the girls ever again.

What should I do?

 

[PAchickenlover]

You stated that she was your dominant hen, the one that got attacked. Chickens have to set a dominance in their flock, this is normal. Yes he went a little overboard, but if she seriously went after him then he took her as a threat also.
what I would do is put the roo in a cage in with your hens. they apparently Don' t know each other very much and need to get acquainted more peacefully. It is not your fault what happened to your hen. They get beat up from time to time. There are some cases where you find out that you just have a nasty roo. Those are the ones you want to get rid of. Roo' s are a dime a dozen.
Keep putting (non pain killer) Neosporine on her comb, it should heal fine. Chickens are very resilient to injuries. Keep an eye on you roo so you can learn his temperment. If he is not kind to all of your hens then you might want to try to get another.

Good luck. I wish your hen a speedy recovery!

 

[Reurra]

Thank you PA!

I have not seen him be outright mean to the 2 "americaunas" he has been housed with for the last 3 weeks. Ive never seen him mount any of them either. he is not a mean roo to people either. So far he can be picked up and moved around without incident. He so far has a mild temperment toward people and mild toward hens, but knowing Dragon, she probably got too close. She has always been a super aggressive and dominant hen. I almost thought she was a roo when she was young because of how she acted toward everything and everyone.

I lent out my chicken cage, so I'll ahve to come up with something else for now. Perhaps I can put them together with supervision for short periods of time until he gets used to them.

My too is a golden laced wyndotte and he is sooo pretty! I really dont want to have to get rid of him

 

[chippysmom327]

Ouch! That sounds like it hurts! Hey, I have stitches in my tongue right now... I bit the whole way through it... :/ So I kinda know how she feels

Sending love and hugs her way!

I had my experience with VICIOUS roos and they would drop their wing and "dance" towards me bfore they'd attack.

 

[PAchickenlover]

You are welcome. I have been in your shoes. Our speckled Sussex roo (chief) has not always been the nicest of roo' s. When he decides he is going to act up and be mean I put him in one of my large dog crates for a few days. he really doesn' t like being away from the flock so he tends to change his attitude. He has never attacked me but has gone after my hubby once or twice till he learned where he ended up for it. He is great now so maybe you will have the same outcome.

 

[theoldchick]

The wing dance is not an act of seduction. It is an act of dominance. The rooster is letting the hen know he's the boss of her. If she is willing, she will squat for mating. Otherwise she will dart off in another direction to escape him.

Since this hen was the boss she might have challenged him and lost the brawl. Remember, however, roosters grab the comb or the back of a hen's head during the mating process. Thus, if this is a inexperienced rooster, he may need time to develop a less aggressive style.

As the other poster said, watch this rooster. Despite his beauty, his aggressive nature is not something you want to perpetuate or tolerate within your flock. And remember by removing the rooster you are disrupting flock dynamics. Everyone has to reassert their position within a flock when a flock member is removed only to be put back in. Flock dynamics change hourly among an established flock, and constantly removing and replacing a member may cause even more aggression.

 

[Reurra]

Thanks for the suggestions. Ive really thought over everything and I think Im going to return him the the lady I got him from. She is a nice lady and she liked him a lot. I know she will keep him happy and healthy. I cant have my girls getting pulled apart because he is too rough or overly dominant. I will just keep hens from now on and not keep any roos. Every one I have had ended up having some sort of issue, over aggression toward people, over aggression with hens, too big for the hens, too small and got beat up...etc etc etc...

The part of her comb that was torn was at the very back, where it rounds up and forms the spines, about a centimeter of flesh has been torn away and is dangling by about 1/4 inch of skin at the top of the comb. I was considering sniping it off, but I dont want to over stress her or cause an larger infection.

 

[Reurra]

Dragon is all hunched up this morning, her tail is down and she wont eat or drink. Over all she looks good, but you know how birds can be, they dont act this way unless they are truely sick. Im very worried about her

Im snowed in up here, the temperature has dropped to -19C (-3F) I dont think I can get into town until Monday.