My rooster viciously attacks one of my hens

[washxc]

Hey all,

We've got 14 barred rock hens at our place and one Silver Laced Wyandotte Rooster in the mix. Our birds free range around 3 acres of pasture most of the day and come back to the coop at night. Well for some reason one of our hens has been ostracized from the flock and whenever the rooster sees her he viciously attacks her. A few weeks ago I started letting her in the barn to roost because she had been bloodied by the roo. This isn't a mating dance, the roo's out for blood. I'm not sure why though, he's pretty docile around me and he's only a little rough mating the other hens.

I also have to add that during the early spring I had a hen get sick and we isolated her in a horse stall and tried our best to get her better. A week or two into the recovery the bullied hen started to fly over and hang out with the sick chicken. I don't think that she was getting picked on at this time, she just took an interest in the horse pen. But, the bullying started after we moved the birds outside.

Is there any reason that a rooster would come charging across the yard and viciously attack a hen anytime he sees her?

 

[chicmom]

I think that's one of the negative things about chickens. They are very territorial, so if that particular hen, went off on her own and stayed with the other sick hen for a while, then sometimes they feel like she's a newbie when she comes back......

I had a hen that was broody for almost three months, and when she came out of it, and rejoined the flock, they really picked on her for about a week....Now things are fine.....

That's sad....I hate to hear about your lonely, picked on hen. If it was me, I'd probably baby her and feed her special treats!

 

[scooter147]

The other possibility is that the bullied hen was at the top of the pecking order and the rooster finally challenged and removed her from her throne. He is now h.e. double hockey sticks bent on making sure he stays on top. It's likely he will never accept her into the flock.
I have had this happen in several flocks of chickens I've owned over the years. I either had to cull the rooster or the hen, I did so depending on which one I needed or wanted to keep more.
Like the post above chickens can be cruel, but that's mother nature.

 

[spotstealer]

The roo would find its way to the roasting pan. I have a thing for bullies!

 

[washxc]

With his 5:30 AM wake up calls, the roasting pan gets closer and closer every day.