Need a saddle? Rooster is mean to hens!

[Summer98]

My chickens are only about 13 weeks old and the one rooster is already being mean to the hens. The other rooster isn't doing much, but he is not as mature either. So the mean rooster is chasing the EE hens (just this breed, he doesn't harass the other breeds much) and he grabs their neck feather and pulls them out. The poor girls scream as he grabs onto their necks. He is also pecking at the base of their tail feathers and causing bleeding and scabbing to occur. So the base of the tails is bald and scabby. I have not witnessed him mounting yet, but they are young. Should I try putting saddles on the girls? Would this cover the base of the tails? It looks like the saddles don't cover up the neck area or base of tail, but I'm not sure. I also worry if the saddles would be too hot in the Summer. I just don't get why he is harassing the EE and not the other breeds? Maybe it's because they are smaller than him. The EE hens won't go outside in their pen because they are so scared of him. They run away in fear when he comes near. I just don't get it. They were all raised together since day old chicks. Are all roosters this mean to their girls? Maybe I should just get rid of him and keep the other rooster?

 

[RedDrgn]

Roosters tend to play favorites. Ours has five ladies, but he really likes one and has a secondary lover when the primary isn't in reach. The other three he practically ignores.

He's not being mean in grabbing them; that's how they mate. They grab the head/neck feathers to hold on and then climb up onto the hen's back, balancing on her hips/wings. If they do this too often with a single hen, they end up with a lot of broken/plucked feathers on the back of their heads/necks, hips, and base of their tails.

Are you sure that the scabbing at the base of the tails is from him pecking them and not the result of him stepping on them? If he really is pecking them bloody, separate him. He's young and entering super-hormone-pyscho-sexy time, so he'll try to mate anything/everything, will probably be excessively awkward and overzealous about it, and won't calm down for a month or two or three yet. So keep him separate until he settles a bit or only let him with them when they're free ranging and have the room to run from him if they want.

Saddles protect their backs/hips/base of their tails so long as you get a properly-sized saddle. There are several folks who sell them for very reasonable here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/19/everything-else
The saddles don't keep them any warmer than a full set of feathers would, so shouldn't be a heat issue for them.

 

[TheJadeChicken]

http://backtobasicliving.com/blog/make-a-chicken-saddle/

You can make the longer. I am going to make some myself for my hens backs, under wings, and tail.

I also agree with RedDrgn.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Hi,

I have one rooster and 13 hens. My boy Roy went through that stage when he was younger. He is a year old now and much
more calmed down. He is not being mean to the hens, he is just learning how to mate them. Once the hens get the idea
to squat to make mounting them easier for him things will be better. The rooster and the hens are both going through
a learning process.

The hen saddles are great. I keep them on my ladies all the time. They do not make the ladies hotter at all.
In fact my girls love their saddles and get mad at me when I take them off. I have enough for every hen to have
two so I can at any point take one off that is dirty and replace it with a clean one.

I get my hen saddles from another BYCer that makes them by hand and will send them to you in the mail. Her business website is
www.louisescountrycloset.com

Check them out. They make a great product that is well made and holds up well to both the rooster and the washer.

Here are a few pics of my ladies and their hen fashions. Hope this helps.






Roy and the ladies.


The Ladies and their hen fashions (aka. chicken Saddles)


More of the hen fashions.


Miss Sweet Pea tending my garden. As you can see her saddle is comfy and stylish.

 

[Summer98]

Your saddles look nice, but I really like your coop! I have not witnessed "Blue" actually mounting atop the girls. But I have witnessed many neck biting and pulling out neck feathers. They don't let him mount and they try to run away from him. But today I noticed something wrong. There are some kind of bugs crawling under their feathers. Could these bugs be causing the base of the tail feathers to drop and the skin to scab up? Just a thought, since I haven't seen him mount.

 

[RedDrgn]

Your saddles look nice, but I really like your coop! I have not witnessed "Blue" actually mounting atop the girls. But I have witnessed many neck biting and pulling out neck feathers. They don't let him mount and they try to run away from him. But today I noticed something wrong. There are some kind of bugs crawling under their feathers. Could these bugs be causing the base of the tail feathers to drop and the skin to scab up? Just a thought, since I haven't seen him mount.

YES, "bugs" absolutely can cause feather loss if they're bad enough. Can you describe the bugs (I'm guessing lice, if you saw them easily), but could be mites or fleas. More info would help and if I were you, I'd get to your local gardening supply store and get a container of Sevin dust because you're going to need it.

 

[Summer98]

I'm thinking about trying the diatomaceous earth stuff and putting it out for them to dust bathe in. I noticed bugs on the two roosters. I barely saw it. It moved very quickly from underneath the neck feathers and crawled back underneath. Both times were on the neck feathers. It moved so fast, but what I could see was an oval shape, grayish colored, multiple legs on each side. It was large enough to be visible.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Your saddles look nice, but I really like your coop! I have not witnessed "Blue" actually mounting atop the girls. But I have witnessed many neck biting and pulling out neck feathers. They don't let him mount and they try to run away from him. But today I noticed something wrong. There are some kind of bugs crawling under their feathers. Could these bugs be causing the base of the tail feathers to drop and the skin to scab up? Just a thought, since I haven't seen him mount.

Thanks!! I have a lot of fun decorating the coop and pen for them. I like to make their home look as homey as possible.

Roy pulled out the ladies neck feathers too when he was learning how to mount them before they learned to squat for him.
Once the ladies learned to squat for him things got better and everyone is fine.

The little bugs you saw on them are most likely mites or lice. If it were me I would clean their coop well, Take all the bedding
out rinse it out well and put new bedding in. If you can put some DE, garden dust, or Seven dust and mix it into the shaving
to keep the lice down.

You also might want to dust your birds as well. This will get the mites and lice that are living on their bodies. I dust my ladies
twice a year with a Poultry dust and put it in their coop as well with some DE. The lice and mites can cause their feathers to come
out on their tails, then possible they are pecking at it because it is bleeding, Chickens tend to peck at wounds especially if
there is blood.

I hope this helps. Good luck

 

[RedDrgn]

I'm thinking about trying the diatomaceous earth stuff and putting it out for them to dust bathe in. I noticed bugs on the two roosters. I barely saw it. It moved very quickly from underneath the neck feathers and crawled back underneath. Both times were on the neck feathers. It moved so fast, but what I could see was an oval shape, grayish colored, multiple legs on each side. It was large enough to be visible.

Sounds like lice, then. Very common and easy to get rid of with Sevin dust. Poultry dust reportedly works sometimes; I've heard a lot of different things about it. But you need to treat with one of those to get rid of the lice. Take a look in this section: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/13/predators-and-pests and run a search for lice for a lot of good info on treatment/prevention.

Diatomaceous earth won't get rid of an existing infestation, though it does work as a good preventative measure. Any "dust" (dirt, ash, DE, sand, etc.) is suitable for them to dust bathe in, though. Ours will drop and roll in just about any such substance.

 

[Summer98]

I bought some pythrethin (sp) poultry powder that I am going to try. I'm not sure how I'm going to catch the birds and put it on them, but I will try. I will also clean out their coop this weekend and maybe sprinkle this on the floor. I think you're right, that it must be lice. I also think the missing feathers and scabbing at base of tails is from "Blue." I saw him on the smallest Easter Egger hen.