Overmating?

[bpoore04]

I have 1 rooster and 19 hens and it seems that he prefers just 2 or 3 out of the 19 because 2-3 are losing all their feathers on their backs and you can almost see the skin. The other hens are fine but it seems like the rooster is very aggressive when it comes to mating. Is there anyway I can fix this? Thanks

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You could remove him for a few months. This is peak breeding season. Hormones are surging this time of year.

 

[Morrigan]

Alternatively, is there a way to separate out the few hens who are not faring well? Sometimes a rooster has his favorites -- either the hens are "easier" to mate, or have some other attractive quality about them. Also some hens have more brittle feathers and tend to suffer more feather loss from a rooster's attentions.

The other thing some people do (I haven't tried it), it putting chicken saddles --basically little cloth aprons that protect their backs -- on the affected hens. I prefer to separate if it is at all possible. If you can't and you don't want to do saddles, the hens will probably survive, as long as they have shade in the daytime, and are not bleeding from the excess attentions.

 

[bpoore04]

You could remove him for a few months. This is peak breeding season. Hormones are surging this time of year.

Remove him to where? I feel if I put him in a seperate coop then he will turn his aggression to me. He is not afraid to attack me and tries to a lot :/

 

[bpoore04]

Alternatively, is there a way to separate out the few hens who are not faring well? Sometimes a rooster has his favorites -- either the hens are "easier" to mate, or have some other attractive quality about them. Also some hens have more brittle feathers and tend to suffer more feather loss from a rooster's attentions.

The other thing some people do (I haven't tried it), it putting chicken saddles --basically little cloth aprons that protect their backs -- on the affected hens. I prefer to separate if it is at all possible. If you can't and you don't want to do saddles, the hens will probably survive, as long as they have shade in the daytime, and are not bleeding from the excess attentions.

If I separated the hens that were being over bred, how long would I keep them there? And would I have to reintegrate them into the flock?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Remove him to where? I feel if I put him in a seperate coop then he will turn his aggression to me. He is not afraid to attack me and tries to a lot :/

To his own pen. Do you need him? Are you hatching? Which isn't a good idea from an aggressive bird. Do you have chickens for eggs or meat? I wouldn't keep an aggressive rooster. There's too many nice ones out there.

 

[Folly's place]

No human aggressive rooster stays here! He'd be gone, and the flock will be better for it.
Mary

 

[bpoore04]

To his own pen. Do you need him? Are you hatching? Which isn't a good idea from an aggressive bird. Do you have chickens for eggs or meat? I wouldn't keep an aggressive rooster. There's too many nice ones out there.

I don’t guess I need him if you wanna say it that way but we just hatched 4 chicks from him and I’m hoping one of them will be a cockerel so I can give the one I have now to my cousins if they will take them. I have chickens for eggs too btw.

 

[aart]

Remove him to where? I feel if I put him in a seperate coop then he will turn his aggression to me. He is not afraid to attack me and tries to a lot :/

There ya go, get rid of him......he'd be delicious, if you're up to that.

He might be over mating those featherless girls, or they may just have weak feathers that are more prone to breaking when tread upon.

But really, get rid of him, life's too short to deal with an aggressive cock/erel.

 

[bpoore04]

There ya go, get rid of him......he'd be delicious, if you're up to that.

He might be over mating those featherless girls, or they may just have weak feathers that are more prone to breaking when tread upon.

But really, get rid of him, life's too short to deal with an aggressive cock/erel.

I guess we will see what we can work out. If my family wants to eat him they can go ahead, but if they don’t, I’ll see if I can rehome him to somewhere else