Nasty rooster

[Mrsviddy]

Hi— my young rooster Svart Hona is targeting one of my older girls. We got him in May or June and he’s about a year old. He’s just starting to feel his oats ( so to speak). I could not figure out why my old girl‘s comb was banged up along with the top of her head. I thought it was one of my 10 other girls. I caught him in the act. It’s not like he’s trying to mate with her. He chases her, pins her down and beats on her. He will sometimes pull on her tail feathers or pull feathers out of her neck. She is truly afraid of him. She will stay close to me or hide behind me. Right now I have him in a cage where he can see the girls. It’s not like she is going to lay a lot of eggs. She’s about 6-7 years old. What can I do to stop the stalking and him attacking her? I am desperate
thanks all

 

[sourland]

It may well be that he is trying to subordinate her since she is older and may not want to mate. This sometimes escalates to the point that the hen is killed. I would remove him from the flock for a couple of weeks and closely monitor upon his reintroduction. It may be necessary to remove the hen from the flock for her safety in the long term.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

You can't stop him from attacking her without separating them from each other. I would try separating HER from the flock and put him back in, and watch him closely to see if he turns the attack to other hens or settles down. If he attacks another, then re-home or cull the rooster. If he settles down, then re-home or cull the hen.

 

[dawg53]

I had a newly acquired rooster that almost killed an old hen that had stopped laying eggs. I suspect he sensed that she wasnt capable of laying eggs anymore and he tried to kill her. She was a favorite and I got rid of the rooster.