new to keeping chickens - one angry rooster

[femmemechanics]

hi all! i've always wanted to keep chickens, and this past summer i finally got a hold of my first rooster (my friends found him abandoned in an apartment laundrymat.. awful). i took him in, he's been a sweet rooster.. we have a pretty big backyard.. and he's gotten along well with the cats (3) and the dogs (2). well, two days ago i received my first chicken. she belonged to a family friend and it had been attacked by a dog sometime last week (they think the chicken climbed over the low fence.. into the neighbors yard). they were afraid of her getting attacked again so they passed her on to me since i have a pretty high fence in my backyard. she has 3 medium-large wounds on her breast and tail where her skin is missing and a bit of her breast seems cut but she appears to be carrying along well. i am keeping her hydrated, giving her electrolytes, poultry nutri-drench, plenty of feed, and she's eating and pooping normally.. she doesn't behave like she's injured. i am following directions on taking care of her wounds from the threads in the emergencies section here and i am so thankful for the information available there.

anywho, she is staying in a big kennel in my room because i don't want her to get her wounds infected or dirty while outside... and i want to minimize her movements for now. i decided to take her out today for a little bit so that she could forage for a bit.. supervised of course. as soon as i set her down, my rooster who used to be the most docile thing came CHARGING at her.. i've never seen him so angry and he pecked at her twice before i got a hold of her. i brought her back in.. is there anything i can do to get them to get used to each other without him getting violent? i am locking him up in his run from now on while i let her forage from now on... but i would like them to eventually get along. do i need more chickens? how do i get him to mellow out? or are they always like this?

thank you! (and sry, i know i wrote a book)

 

[scratch'n'peck]

That is nice of you to take in chickens who need a home.

Introducing new chickens to each other can be tricky, but a hen and rooster will usually get used to each other I think, and she will probably accept him as top of the pecking order. Right now he views her as an interloper in his territory. You did the right thing putting him in his run so that he can watch her and get used to her and see that you accept her. Besides it is always a good idea to watch a new chicken for a while to make sure she is not carrying any disease that she can pass on.

If you aren't using an antibiotic ointment like neosprin already, you may want to consider it. That has been helpful for my injured birds. Just in case you didn't run across this on the forums: Don't use any first aid products with benzocaine or lidocaine because birds are sensitive to those types of products.

 

[katschicks11]

I just want to say WELCOME

to BYC. I new to chickens too, best thing I can tell you is to read, read and more reading but the people here are great and and do their best to help.

 

[aoxa]

My rooster likes any new hens I put with him

Wow.. I'm stumped.. Is there any way she was mistaken as a she and is really a he?

I know if you introduce two hens to one another there will be some aggression, but it usually is resolved between the two... Wait until she is healthy and than re-introduce. Don't give up on your rooster though!

 

[SteveBaz]

Wow scary for sure!! How about putting her in a large cage in the yard so the Roo can check her out first and hopefully will not attack her or injure her more. Is the Rooster young? A young one seems to be capable of being crazy or over react. Not a weird reaction at all since they keep a sharp eye on everything in his yard. Yes his yard. He has to give his approval first. Try the cage first and over and over.

Blue Kote is a topical wound spray for chickens that will protect and heal and act as a deterrent to other attacks for it has a bitter taste and a bright purple color to it. vitamin water with electrolytes will do her good and build her system back up strong. She sounds strong now.

to the BYC!!

 

[femmemechanics]

thank you! i'll definitely keep him in the run next time i bring her out.. hopefully they'll get used to each other. and yes, i am using silver sol (antiseptic) and saline solution to wash over her wounds and once that dries up i'm applying regular triple antibiotic ointment.. i read about how the pain relief ointment can poison the chicken and i definitely don't want that. i'm leaving everything open, no bandages.

 

[Jferlisi]

Welcome to BYC. That is a normal thing he did. All chickens do this to new chickens to the flock. What you will need to do is keep them separated for a few weeks but to were they can see each other and get used to each other. Then you can let the out for supervised visits, lol, until they are comfortable with each other. I use blue kot(sp) on wounds just a fyi.

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
From my perspective, as a long time chicken keeper, what you witnessed was not aggression at all, but pent up labido in action. Probably this guy hadn`t seen a "woman" in a very long time and his enthusiasm appeared to be aggression. Chicken love making can be very missleading as it is very forcefull and screams "RAPE" to unaccustomed eyes, especially when performed by a fellow that hasn`t been with a hen in a long time. Roosters can tell if even a strange hen, is a hen. No mistakes. Doesn`t matter if he knows her or not. If her injuries are healing and not subject to being opened by a little rough sex, let her be with him. After the first 5 minutes, they will show you how much "in love" chickens can be........Pop

 

[femmemechanics]

thanks everyone! i'm going to run to the tractor supply later on today to get the blue kote. i'm sure she's a female.. her previous owners said she was laying eggs when she was with them. she hasn't layed in the past 4 days and i'm thinking her injuries sent her body into a shock. she will probably lay again once she feels better. here are some pictures:


in my room:

two of her wounds (right side), she has a third one on her left side.

the rooster:

 

[femmemechanics]

holy cow, sorry guys. didn't mean for the pictures to be that big. @ lollipop... that crossed my mind too. i think her wounds are a little bit too fresh right now for me to allow them to do the dirty. i think i'm going to keep going outside with her while he's in the run, keep bringing her in until her wounds heal, and then once they're used to each other i'll let them go at it .. lol