My rooster is killing his "favorite" hen. Is this common?

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Hi, Susanna, welcome to BYC, and sorry for what you are dealing with. This is not normal behavior. Occasionally there will be a rooster with a 'screw loose'. He is not likely to improve this behavior. For the sake of your flock it may be necessary to separate, relocate or cull him. Good luck in resolving the situation.
 
WOW!

Tough spot it seems.

One thing I have not seen asked is what breed the hens are.

Sometimes if the hens are a lot smaller roosters get frustrated and really act out.

Your boy is barely a year. This is his first spring.

I would separate him where he cannot get to the gals. I would buy more gals perhaps 10 new gals that are large breed birds. Get all the ladies integrated with each other. Then try again with your boy.

Its going to take all summer sadly.

I would not be hatching any eggs fertilized by him as he certainly seems aggressive.
 
The easiest thing to do for now would be to separate him from the hens most of the time. Have him in a separate run where he can see them but can't get to them. You could then let him out with them for 1-2 hours (supervised) in the evening.

In my experience, RIRs can be rather vicious (to people and other birds), especially hatchery stock (which is most of them). They have been bred for egg production, not temperament. I have a few RIR crosses and I'm slowly removing them from the flock because they disturb the peace. I find New Hampshire chickens to be more pleasant and docile, though I did have 2 aggressive males that I needed to remove from the flock. The male I have left is great. The hens all have great personalities as well.

Best of luck with your birds.
 
I personally am a big softie and cull is always a last resort.

I would definitely remove him from the remaining girls.

He is young. His hormones are running amok! 5 girls is not enough for him, especially at this time while he is so determined to mate.

Not being used to a male the girls may not be as willing as well.

If you try to reintroduce him after getting more hens I would monitor him closely. Hurting the girls is never ok. Killing them is a definite NO!

If he is still aggressive then even I would have to agree he needs to go. If you can’t do it yourself let someone else. Please disclose your problems with him if you decide to get rid of him.

I wish you luck. :welcome
 
ronott1 said:
Just a reminder, please be more considerate when you are posting on a welcome thread. We do become a bit jaded here--you are essentially telling a new member to kill their pet.

Is that welcoming?
Click to expand...
Ronott1, please keep in mind that we are helping her, NOT trying to make her feel bad. This is a website were you receive information to help your birds. Not a website were nobody tells you what you need to do because of fear of hurt feelings. That rooster needs to be culled, and thats the hard truth.
 
Hello everyone, and thank you for all your responses, I do appreciate each one of them.
We started our flock with 8 hens and the rooster was number 9. But the number was reduced to 6 and almost to 5.
My husband and I decided even before we read your answers that the best for our ladies was to be without an aggressive male until we can research a little more about a nice rooster breed. We also need more hens for the ration of 1 rooster for 6 hens was not working, specially the ones that he "liked " the best. Our chicken area is pretty large, shaded by pine and oak trees and some bushes for them to hide from hawks and such. The coop has six boxes for them to lay eegs and enough space for 15 hens to roost safely at night. I feed them scraps from the garden, our table plus hen layer food from our local supplier. We will have a nice supper tonight, and will continue learning about the best way to keep our backyard flock happy.
Thank you again,
Happy easter, God bless you all.
 
I wonder if they have a wound and he is going after that? I'm not an expert but I'm learning. Just yesterday one of my chicks had a wound and the others would not leave her alone. I treated her and seperated them for a few hours. Put her back in and they are now leaving her alone. I read somewhere that this happens if there is a wound.
 
Sounds like you have a handle on the situation. Before you decide to go buy more hens, you need to know that the 1:10 ratio so often quoted here is the “ideal” ratio for big hatcheries and commercial setups for optimum fertilization. Having 10 hens for your one rooster in your backyard flock does not guarantee that he won’t still have his favorites that will get overbred. There are flocks with a rooster and 2-3 hens that don’t have problems with over breeding. The personality of the rooster makes a huge difference. I think you will notice that without a rooster your hens will be much more friendly toward you. A good rooster is fun to have around and can be an asset to the flock, but unless you’re wanting to hatch out your own eggs, a rooster is not a necessity.
 

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