First of all my buff orpington just layed her first egg this morning!!!! woohoo our first home grown egg EVER!! lol anyways....we recently discovered that our white silkie hen was in fact a rooster do to its cockadoodling. He,within the last week has biten me( drawn blood) and gets on top and bites our leghorn hen. She's the only 1 he does it to. i also find him pecking the others heads, i assume to let them know he's boss but attacking the leghorn is worrying me. Would being sprayed with a spray bottle work with him? or just keep pushing him off when i see him doing it? Thanks in advance for your help
Rude rooster! He might be trying to mate her. Roosters jump on the back of the hen and grab the back of the neck with their beak often pulling out a few feathers in the process. Gently but firmly push him off her back to show your dominance. If he tries to bite, you can show dominance by pushing the palm of your hand down on his back and giving the back of his neck a little pinch and keep it there until you feel him submit to the pressure. Wear gloves and long sleeves if you are worried about getting bitten. Once you get used to it, you can put him in that position with confidence without getting bitten, but it can take a little practice to do it with authority. Hopefully you will be able to nip that hand nipping in the bud. Some folks have mentioned that they carry their rooster around to show him who is boss. CONGRATS ON YOUR FIRST EGG!
Thank you! It seems i've been doing it correctly then. i push him off when i catch him and i have been holding him more too. as well as pushing him down into the squating position. I also thought it was a mating thing after doing some research, it said that the rooser usually picks a favorite hen and basically jumps them. I think he picked her because she seems weaker the the other hens in our flock.
