New Rooster Getting Henpecked

[lmadeline146]

We recently had a fox kill a few hens and our flock rooster, so I found a post about someone needing a home for their OE rooster and decided to take him. He did good with my flock of 8 hens and 13 pullets and roos for a few days and he is a very sweet and good rooster. However, the hens (specifically the dominant ones) have been pecking out his feathers around his neck and his saddle. He’s not fighting back either. They have enough protein in their feed and treats that we give them. I think it could be a bit of boredom since they have only been free ranging 1/2 their usual time since I’m cautious of the fox returning.

I tried putting anti-pecking spray on him, but it only works for a day and they keep pecking him until I reapply it. I even tried spraying Blue Kote on his featherless back area.

We have an 8x10 coop and a 20x10 run. I was told that the rooster is about 1 1/2 years old.

What should I do? Does anybody have any ideas before I attempt to rehome him?

 

[Debbie292d]

So sorry for your losses.

I sometimes have issues with dominant hens doing this to young roosters, even ones who are larger than the hens are.

I have two ideas. Either take a couple of most dominant hens and pen them up somewhere else for a week or two. Then maybe he can live amongst the rest just fine, and when those dominant ones rejoin the flock, they'll have an attitude adjustment.

Or, put a couple of the non-dominant hens with him so he builds up some confidence. Once he's got two or three hens that all get along, try putting them all back together again. The dominant hens will see him hanging out with a couple of the hens and should be more likely to ignore him.

 

[lmadeline146]

So sorry for your losses.

I sometimes have issues with dominant hens doing this to young roosters, even ones who are larger than the hens are.

I have two ideas. Either take a couple of most dominant hens and pen them up somewhere else for a week or two. Then maybe he can live amongst the rest just fine, and when those dominant ones rejoin the flock, they'll have an attitude adjustment.

Or, put a couple of the non-dominant hens with him so he builds up some confidence. Once he's got two or three hens that all get along, try putting them all back together again. The dominant hens will see him hanging out with a couple of the hens and should be more likely to ignore him.

Thank you. I hope this works cause he’s such a sweet rooster and is great while free ranging so I don’t want to rehome him

 

[Mrs. K]

Is he bleeding? Cause if not, I would leave him be. It can be a kind of a preening. I had an EE, and they would denude him of his whiskers, and then the neck feathers. He would just stand there like they were just loving him.

I think it is better to leave them be. You might take a look at your run, is it just a wide open space? Where every bird can see every other bird 100% of the time? Add some clutter, add a lot, platforms, where birds can get under or on top, saw horses, ladders, roosts, mini walls of plywood and or cardboard, chairs, totes on the side.

Then set up several feed bowls - set up so that a bird eating at one, can't see a bird eating at another.

These ideas let birds eat in peace, and get away from bothersome birds.

Mrs K

 

[HollowOfWisps]

If he isn’t being injured leave him with them. It’s the job of the older hens to boss around the young roosters to show them respect and manners. It may seem harsh, but that’s how you end up with a rooster that knows how to treat the hens and is respectful. Think of it like the old lady grabbing the mischievous boy causing trouble by the ear. If you don’t let it happen and run its course the chances of ending up with a disrespectful rooster go up considerably.

 

[lmadeline146]

Is he bleeding? Cause if not, I would leave him be. It can be a kind of a preening. I had an EE, and they would denude him of his whiskers, and then the neck feathers. He would just stand there like they were just loving him.

I think it is better to leave them be. You might take a look at your run, is it just a wide open space? Where every bird can see every other bird 100% of the time? Add some clutter, add a lot, platforms, where birds can get under or on top, saw horses, ladders, roosts, mini walls of plywood and or cardboard, chairs, totes on the side.

Then set up several feed bowls - set up so that a bird eating at one, can't see a bird eating at another.

These ideas let birds eat in peace, and get away from bothersome birds.

Mrs K

He’s not bleeding but they did pick an open patch on his back and you can see the rest of what they did in the image. Their run is wide open but they have roosts and a swing. I can definitely add more to their run though. We also do have two feed areas one in the coop and one in the run.

 

[aart]

How old is the new male?
If you have young males coming up , why not just wait?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[lmadeline146]

How old is the new male?
If you have young males coming up , why not just wait?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

The new rooster is about a year ans a half old and the hens are around 2 years old. I would wait for an upcoming rooster, but majority are brahmas and we dont really want a massive rooster that might be lazy or too big to fend off predators. The only non brahma rooster is a mean EE.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

The new rooster is about a year ans a half old and the hens are around 2 years old. I would wait for an upcoming rooster, but majority are brahmas and we dont really want a massive rooster that might be lazy or too big to fend off predators. The only non brahma rooster is a mean EE.

A bigger rooster would have a better go about fending off a small predator than a smaller rooster. Also I have never had a lazy Brahma quite the opposite really some of my most active foragers.

 

[lmadeline146]

A bigger rooster would have a better go about fending off a small predator than a smaller rooster. Also I have never had a lazy Brahma quite the opposite really some of my most active foragers.

Okay, that changes my view on them lol. I’ve seen people say that their brahma roosters can be too big to properly fend off predators but I’ve also seen that some are great at it. I’ll see which of the upcoming roos are best with the hens and I and choose him if our current rooster keeps getting henpecked.