new roo's killed my dela-horn.

[dancingbear]

Chickens don't care about color of feathers, either. They don't kill one for looking different. Your idea that the roos killed her being "the only logical explanation" is in error. It's more likely she died by accident, (hit head, broke neck, or some such, it happens) or had some internal problem with her egg equipment.

What is possible is that with new roos in the coop, as they were all getting acquainted, re-assigning pecking orders, etc., there could have been squabbles and chasing going on at first. That can lead to injuries, such as I described in my earlier post.

I've never heard of a rooster killing a hen or a pullet. Only each other, sometimes. The rooster instinct is to protect the hens/flock.

 

[monster1]

what ever happened to the delahorn happened to one of the millie roosters this morning. the one had a deformed beak and was noticablely gentler in temperment than the other roo. i noticed when i fed them this morning the roo with the deformed beak was just standing with its head pulled in and feathers ruffled. it was falling over and not walking well. the tip of his comb was bloody and had blood pooled on the side of his head. didn't have time to deal ewith it cause i had to go to work. got back later the roo was dead. the other millie roo was perched up with the americana together looking like love birds. i approached and the roo ruffled up and puffed out. oh brother. looks like i might have an alpha male on my hands now. i guess i opened pandoras box by housing the two roo's in with the females!

 

[danischi24]

Either you have a disease or a predator. It's not your roo. They don't kill other chickens & if they injure them, it takes days of constant fighting. Check your coop!

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
It sounds like you have a predator getting in. Under those circumstances, it's normal for the roo to display protectiveness when you entered the coop. It doesn't mean you have an alpha roo. Did he make a long, drawn out kind of growly sound? That's the warning vocalization they make for "ground predator", meaning you. They have a different sound for "aerial predator". Did the pullet have similar wounds?

 

[monster1]

everything is fine this morning. the pullets are fine. no problems. the coop is tight. no holes anywhere. there really is no where for a predator to get in. even the floor is caged in so nothing can tunnel underneath. the roo doesn't like me in the pen. he floggs me in the typical way but never makes a sound. i picked him up to try and calm him down but he latched onto my hand and drew blood. this is night and day behavior compared to when i picked them up from the last owner. as i said, they were very tame and friendly birds until i got them home and put them with the pullets.

 

[Southernbelle]

My roos usually break up fights, especially between the hens. I've never had one of my roos go after a hen or pullet. Sorry you're having so much trouble with yours! After all this, what are you going to do with him?

 

[Pinky]

I had hen kill one of her chicks before.The chick just grew in all her adult feathers.She pecked a hole in the chick's head.By the time I got the door open the chick was already dead.Maybe the chick was sick?I happened so quickly.I know some animal will kill others of their kind if they have something wrong with them.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Now that does describe a human aggressive roo. But the behavior change baffles me. I wonder if you did something inadvertently to make this roo see you as a threat to the flock?
Flogging humans is not typical behavior. I've had lots and lots of roos over the years, I've only had one that attacked people.

Is your coop big enough? Do they free range in the daytime? Is your set up very different from where they came from? I mean, if they free-ranged before, and are now totally confined, that could make some aggression problems. How many birds do you have, and how much space do they have? Do you use artificial light? If you do, did they have that where they came from? What's different from where you got them?

Are you sure this isn't a fighting cock? If he's been bred and conditioned to fight, that could explain a lot.

 

[monster1]

Quote:
Now that does describe a human aggressive roo. But the behavior change baffles me. I wonder if you did something inadvertently to make this roo see you as a threat to the flock?
Flogging humans is not typical behavior. I've had lots and lots of roos over the years, I've only had one that attacked people.

Is your coop big enough? Do they free range in the daytime? Is your set up very different from where they came from? I mean, if they free-ranged before, and are now totally confined, that could make some aggression problems. How many birds do you have, and how much space do they have? Do you use artificial light? If you do, did they have that where they came from? What's different from where you got them?

Are you sure this isn't a fighting cock? If he's been bred and conditioned to fight, that could explain a lot.

the birds have about 4 square feet apiece. considering that the pullets are still small, there is alot of space for them. i haven't free ranged them yet because they are new to the coop. after a few weeks, i'll let them out to play. the roosters where in a pretty small cage/coop. about two square feet per bird. no artifical light now or with the previous owner. the only thing i can think of that has triggered this aggression is that he has some girls now to protect. maybe that triggered something. i don't know. what can i try to get him to simmer down, training wise? he's too pretty to make into a featherduster, but i don't want him attacking my three year old who loves to go out back and play with the chickens.

thanks,

p.s. he is supposedly a mille fluer. he has the white tipped feathers but i think he is a cross with something else. he has beutiful dark green tail feathers that look like a fountain. his hackles are bright orange. his body is a light brown/gold. very similar to the current "bird of the week." maybe he has been bred to fight, but the last owner said they were the calmest birds he ever had and the two roo's where housed together by themselves. he said they never fought.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I'm sorry for your losses.

A lot of people set up bachelor pens, for multiple roos. Multiple roos that wouldn't get along in a flock of hens, will often get along without any hens in their pen. Taking your roos from being caged on their own, to a flock of hens, in a new coop, with a new owner, were major changes for them.

Chickens do kill other chickens and it can happen in a short amount of time, once it gets serious. They can be partially eaten, in the process. If the first chicken you lost did not look seriously wounded, then it may have had a heart attack from the stress of the aggression or accidentally flown into something with enough force to kill it.

There are a lot of different causes for aggression in chickens, including adding new chickens to an existing flock. Hopefully, the situation in your coop has stabilized now and you won't have any more losses. Locking new chickens in their coop is common, especially before free ranging them, but I wouldn't do it when combining birds from different flocks. It just doesn't leave the victims any room to get away. If you add any new birds in the future, you might want to take a look at some of the previous threads on adding new chickens to an existing flock.

There are plenty of threads on aggressive roos, if you want to read some of those. It must be so frustrating, to think you are getting docile roos and then end up with one that's reveling in the glory of his manly roosterness, overnight. Sometimes, chickens just don't act the way we think they're going to. Flock dynamics can get complicated.