Our 2 roosters pecked a hole in our Ameraucanas' head

[Goronson Chicks]

My only green egg-laying hen, an Ameraucana, appeared one morning with a deep gash in her head. Our roosters had been fighting over her and I saw one try to mate her and the other rooster pull her out from under him by the feathers on top of her head and mate her himself.

So I took her into our heated garage and treated her with blue (as recommended by our feed supply store.) It was a deep gash and I was shocked, but she healed up over the period of a week.

I tried to reintroduce her into the flock Sunday afternoon and first the Guinea hen tried to peck at her and then roosters immediately ran at her and hopped on top of her and opened up her wound again. She was terrified.

I shushed everyone away sternly and brought her back into the garage. She is a sweet, loveable girl and I’m afraid they’re going to kill her. She’s been part of this flock for almost a year with no prior trouble.

Will I have to isolate her for the rest of her life? Should I have reintroduced her into the coop at night? What if they peck her head again at night when I’m not there to protect her?

I’m very attached to this hen. What should I do? Has anyone else been through this and found a good solution? I want them to be a family again.

Help!

 

[bobbi-j]

How many hens and roosters do you have? How much room do you have for them?

 

[Goronson Chicks]

We have 13 hens, 2 Guinea hens and 3 roosters. One rooster is a bantam and has a twisted beak. One rooster is now living in our heated garage and we are trying to re-home him. We only internded to have 1 rooster but 2 were sold as hens and ended up being roosters.

We plan to keep the one rooster and the twisted beak Bantam with the 15 hens. Prior to this all have gottten along fine, but this one hen seems to be a favorite and they fight over her. Now that one rooster is separated, the other 2 are fighting over her.

They have a 9.5 X 4.5 coop (We just built a new, larger one) and a 20 X 40 ft run surrounded in SunTuf panels with a partial roof enclosure and aviary netting over the rest.

They have been free roaming the run most of the winter.

Thank you,
Maureen

 

[Goronson Chicks]

I should add that the roosters are fighting over this one hen but hurting her in the process by pecking a wound into the top back of her head.
Maureen

 

[keesmom]

It sounds like you have 2 options. Rehome your green egg layer or remove at least 2 of the roosters.

 

[centrarchid]

Show gash in head. Sometimes such damage is a function of something being wrong with hen before damage done.

 

[Goronson Chicks]

You mean down to 1 rooster or none?
Maureen

 

[aart]

Is the 9.5 X 4.5 coop the new one or the old one?

Yes, get rid of all but one rooster...competition makes them aggressive.....or all roosters if you don't have plans to hatch eggs.

 

[Goronson Chicks]

The 9.5 X 4.5 is the old one. The new one is 7 X 7 and is attached by a smaller cottage that is 4 X 4 that acts like a tunnel or bridge between the 2 houses. So, we plan to make all the interior space available to them because there will be 3 new female chicks being added this spring and 2 young hens being added to the flock early summer..

They get to free range on about 3 of our 5.67 acres on weekends and in their run the rest of the time. Will this be enough space for 20 hens and 1 rooster?
Thanks for your advice,
Maureen

 

[aart]

The 9.5 X 4.5 is the old one. The new one is 7 X 7 and is attached by a smaller cottage that is 4 X 4 that acts like a tunnel or bridge between the 2 houses. So, we plan to make all the interior space available to them because there will be 3 new female chicks being added this spring and 2 young hens being added to the flock early summer..

They get to free range on about 3 of our 5.67 acres on weekends and in their run the rest of the time. Will this be enough space for 20 hens and 1 rooster?
Thanks for your advice,
Maureen

Just barely.....IF the run is covered and protected from the wind so it's always accessible during the winter when it's cold and the snow gets deep.