Our rooster REALLY hurt one of our hens, what do I do?

SouthernOregonChick

In the Brooder
8 Years
Jul 15, 2011
14
0
22
Tonight when we went to close up our chickens and make sure everyone was in bed, we found we were missing one. After a long search with flash lights we found her bedded down under a bush. She has never not gone to bed with the other chickens before. So, as I carried her to the coop, I was inspecting her. I found that not only were her feathers pulled from the back of her neck, she has an open bleeding gash. I know that it was our rooster, I saw him trying to mount her and the placement of the wound makes it clear who the culprit was. My rooster is quite young, just a bit over 4 months old. I have heard that they can outgrow this? I am really concerned for the happiness, health, and well being of my hens. I would love any thoughts on this problem!

Also maybe I should note that the rooster is younger than the hen he hurt, by about 6 months. They have been mixed together for about a month now, and we gradually mixed them and they seem to get along great. The only issue is that the older hens don't seem to want to have anything to do with this young rooster... which may be why they fight and end up hurt? I am not sure, this is my first flock. Also, I have heard hen to rooster ratio is important, but we have 6 hens to 1 rooster. And, our rooster is not particularly mean or ornery...
 
I believe you are suppose to have 1 rooster to 10 hens.
my rooster did the same thing to one of my hens. I now have hens saddles on all my girls. that work GREAT!!
lovemychix makes the best hen saddles I have ever bought. (and I have bought from many different places to find the best ones.)

some roosters do out grow this, but some do not. sometimes a rooster like that can kill a hen!

did your little roo have spurs?
How is your hen today?
can you post a picture of your hens wound?
 
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Roosters especially of the heavier breeds tend to be less active as they age. I had this with a young Buff Orpington cockerel. He gashed on of my pullets pretty deep, but I still have him at age 3.5 and he still fertilizes them well, but he is a lot less rough.
 
Young roos can get pretty aggressive while they are "practicing" their rooster ways. If you can put saddles on your girls hopefully he will outgrow his overzealous tendencies and be more gentle with the ladies as he perfects his moves. In the meantime, I would clean up your poor girl and keep her separated from him for a while.
 

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