My Rooster is Tormenting One of The Girls

[PorkChop]

My wife and I are new to the backyard chicken world and about a month ago we got three hens, Porkchop, Greta and Girtie (my wife named them) and a Rooster named Brett Favre. Of course I named him and obviously I'm a Vikings fan. We did lots of research on coops and I made some drawings and built a coop, they have a nice run and we also let them free range for a few hours each day.
We are getting three eggs each day and everything seems to be going well. Brett is a little hard on the girls we noticed some missing feathers on the backs of the hens. Did some reading on this board and found that can be typical. They all are one year old and we have been enjoying them along with the neighbors, so far so good.

Here's the question; it seems that Brett has singled out of the hens, not for mating but to beat on her. She is running from him as fast as she can and then seems to give up and submits, stops and just lays down. He jumps on her and feathers are flying, she is screaming and then Porkchop seems to jump in and start pecking on her. The back of her head is all beat up and her back is pretty bare. She now stays in the coop to avoid Brett but when we open the gate to let them free range she wants to come out and then Brett ambushes her, I had to get inbetween him and her last night so she could get away.

He is a great rooster and is a beautiful bird and we enjoy his antics (except the rough stuff) and are talking about getting rid of him, we are afraid he is going to kill her. We are not sure what to do and looking for any advice we can get.

 

[hippichick]

I would try pennng him up for awhile-a week or so to give her a break. Maybe when you let him back out to be with the hens, he'll have lost interest in that one particular hen. Good luck.

 

[PorkChop]

Quote:
Sure, thats what the Saints defense did to Brett, seperate him from his linemen, put him out there by himselve, then take him out.

Just kidding, congrats to your Saints, Viking fans (or at least I am) are hoping Brett Favre returns for one more shot at the SB.

Thanks for the advice, I was thinking about seperating her, but maybe seperating the roo makes more sense, might adjust his attitude as well. Right now the one hen that he has been abusing just stays in the coop, she's a mess... Maybe I'll just let Brett free range for a bit and keep the hens in the run.

 

[Fort Orpington]

I am also new to the chicken world, but also have an opinion about this

I think that you should try seperating your rooster for a while, but if that does not work I think you will need to get rid of him. We had a rooster that picked on one of our hens. He would single her out not let her be with the other hens and she was missing a lot of feathers, he was just mean to her, so we got rid of him and it took a couple of weeks before the picked on chicken would even go near the other hens. It has been a while now and she is now with the other hens, I just feel bad that I did not do something sooner. She is still a little nervous but she is getting better and her feathers are growing back nicely. I just should of done something sooner. Oh and our girls are fine without him, now they follow us every were.

 

[PorkChop]

Quote:
I agree, we will try the seperation, if that does not work Brett might get an invite to the dinner table...

 

[Catstar68]

Separate him from them for awhile...he may announce he is retiring.

but he'll be back.....

 

[hippichick]

Quote:
Sure, thats what the Saints defense did to Brett, seperate him from his linemen, put him out there by himselve, then take him out.

Just kidding, congrats to your Saints, Viking fans (or at least I am) are hoping Brett Favre returns for one more shot at the SB.

Thanks for the advice, I was thinking about seperating her, but maybe seperating the roo makes more sense, might adjust his attitude as well. Right now the one hen that he has been abusing just stays in the coop, she's a mess... Maybe I'll just let Brett free range for a bit and keep the hens in the run.

Haha, I like your sense of humor, PorkChop. Like your user name too. lol I guess that is what our boys did to poor ole Brett, huh?

I'm sure he'll be back, though.

Good luck with your roo. If penning him up doesn't work, remember, it's the really mean roos that taste best.

 

[tammyd57]

I would separate him for a week and see what happens. If that doesn't give him an attitude adjustment, I would change his name to "Stew"