I have 21 hens and 2 roosters of various breeds. They are all 22 weeks old.
The alpha rooster, Duke, is a Silver Gray Dorking and very large - probably twice the size of the rest of the chickens. The other rooster is a Phoenix, Bobby Lee.
The hens seem to love Duke - they follow him around and groom around his face and in the past two weeks, they began pecking at the base of his tail - where the back feathers meet the tail feathers. At first I thought it was just a form of grooming him and didn't give it much thought, as he didn't seem to mind.
Yesterday, I noticed while he was standing up and pecking at the ground, a couple of hens would run up behind him, and put their heads UNDER his tail feathers and peck. I looked closer and realized he was bleeding.
I caught him, wrapped him in a towel and looked closely at the area around his vent. The skin is not broken anywhere, but several of his tail feathers are missing or the quills are broken close to his skin. I saw no evidence of mice or lice (I searched through pictures a head of time so that I could identify anything I might see). A couple of broken quills were bleeding. I cleaned him up, applied bedadine, and sprayed the area with blue kote. I left him in the coop alone until night and then let all the other chickens in. I watched for a while and they all settled on roosts and went to sleep.
I was hoping that when I let them all into the chicken yard this AM, the blue kote would do the trick and they would leave his tail feathers alone. But they won't. The hens started pecking at him right away - and then even Bobby Lee joined in.
I've seperated him from the others. He acts pretty much the same as he always has. He eats and he drinks. Poop looks normal. The coop floor is wooden and we are deep litter method with pine shavings we shred ourselves.
As I said - his skin looks normal around the vent - no mites or lice - and that's the area the hens seem to focus on when pecking and breaking off his quills.
He has seemed to continue being the alpha rooster - but this morning he mounted a hen and Bobby Lee flew over and knocked him off of her. Duke didn't challenge Bobby Lee at all.
At this point, I just want to know why in the world the hens are pecking him bloody like they are. It seemed to start as grooming - but it's way beyond that now. Is Bobby Lee challenging Duke and the hens are reacting to the possible change in the pecking order? What can I do to restore some order and stop the damage they are inflicting on Duke.
I intend to build an area in the coop for Duke today to keep him seperated for a few days and see if that breaks this chain. He won't be happy - and the girls seemed lost when I seperated him yesterday - but I left him inside the coop. I'm hoping by fencing off a small area in the run with the others, he will see the hens and they will see him, and maybe everyone will be happier.
Any idea what is going on - and what I should do?
Any advise at all is very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Penny
The alpha rooster, Duke, is a Silver Gray Dorking and very large - probably twice the size of the rest of the chickens. The other rooster is a Phoenix, Bobby Lee.
The hens seem to love Duke - they follow him around and groom around his face and in the past two weeks, they began pecking at the base of his tail - where the back feathers meet the tail feathers. At first I thought it was just a form of grooming him and didn't give it much thought, as he didn't seem to mind.
Yesterday, I noticed while he was standing up and pecking at the ground, a couple of hens would run up behind him, and put their heads UNDER his tail feathers and peck. I looked closer and realized he was bleeding.
I caught him, wrapped him in a towel and looked closely at the area around his vent. The skin is not broken anywhere, but several of his tail feathers are missing or the quills are broken close to his skin. I saw no evidence of mice or lice (I searched through pictures a head of time so that I could identify anything I might see). A couple of broken quills were bleeding. I cleaned him up, applied bedadine, and sprayed the area with blue kote. I left him in the coop alone until night and then let all the other chickens in. I watched for a while and they all settled on roosts and went to sleep.
I was hoping that when I let them all into the chicken yard this AM, the blue kote would do the trick and they would leave his tail feathers alone. But they won't. The hens started pecking at him right away - and then even Bobby Lee joined in.
I've seperated him from the others. He acts pretty much the same as he always has. He eats and he drinks. Poop looks normal. The coop floor is wooden and we are deep litter method with pine shavings we shred ourselves.
As I said - his skin looks normal around the vent - no mites or lice - and that's the area the hens seem to focus on when pecking and breaking off his quills.
He has seemed to continue being the alpha rooster - but this morning he mounted a hen and Bobby Lee flew over and knocked him off of her. Duke didn't challenge Bobby Lee at all.
At this point, I just want to know why in the world the hens are pecking him bloody like they are. It seemed to start as grooming - but it's way beyond that now. Is Bobby Lee challenging Duke and the hens are reacting to the possible change in the pecking order? What can I do to restore some order and stop the damage they are inflicting on Duke.
I intend to build an area in the coop for Duke today to keep him seperated for a few days and see if that breaks this chain. He won't be happy - and the girls seemed lost when I seperated him yesterday - but I left him inside the coop. I'm hoping by fencing off a small area in the run with the others, he will see the hens and they will see him, and maybe everyone will be happier.
Any idea what is going on - and what I should do?
Any advise at all is very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Penny