Racist rooster :-(

[isilma]

A few months ago, an old couple gave me a rooster that had show up one day and they started feeding him, my hens were still chickens then and he integrated to the group in just a day, he waited for them to become of mating age and once that happen he was a happy rooster! he had 8 new hens all for himself, soon after we notice that the two black hens were missing, it seem they had moved over to the ducks area and spend most of the day with them, we did not know why they moved.
A few months lates we notice the other hens got along fine with the rooster but the two black hens were terrified of him and he had been so aggressive with them while mating that they had blood over the face and cuts and swollen cheek :-(. We separated him from the hens and put him in a 3x8 enclosure and would allow 2 hens to visit him at a time until all 6 had been with him each day but at night he was allowed in the coop in a separate cage.
After the black hens had healed from his attack i gave him another chance to see if he would be nice to them and once again, he chased them around the garden and mated with them and attack them after leaving them with blood all over again. Any one have any idea as of why he is nice to the others and attack the black ones? what can I do to change this behaviour in him? it take a lot of my time giving him visitation privileges with the other 6 hens each day and also when i give him a few hours to free roam, then i have to enclose the black hens, it seem he is a rooster that are normally used for fights.
Thanks for any advice in advance

 

[pennyJo1960]

glad you stopped to ask wish i could help more... even if he was a fighting cockerel he still should not attack a hen that is odd hope someone steps in that has more experience with behavior of such

 

[lazy gardener]

Perhaps this is why he showed up at your friend's house. Yes, chickens can be prejudiced. This is where the saying, "Birds of a feather, flock together." Many BYC flock owners will attest to the fact that their birds often chum around by color or breed. My roo was not fond of barred or cuckoo patterned birds, though he seems to have gotten over that issue. It sounds like this boy is more work than he's worth. If he were in my flock, I'd be looking to replace him, pronto.

 

[Stephine]

He is gorgeous!
That’s a tricky one... if you integrated him in just one day and the two black ones went to hang out elsewhere during that time, he might just not see them as part of his flock. The fact that they both look very different from the other hens can make it harder for him to accept them - yes, chickens are very aware of different plumage and are more likely to beat up on chickens that look very different. But there can be other reasons for them not getting along, too. If a hen is higher up in the pecking order she might get into more altercations with a new rooster (a situation I have here right now). Anyway.... If I were you, I would separate the roo for a while and make sure to keep the hens together - the more you separate out the two dark hens the harder it is for them to be accepted by the other hens, let alone the rooster. Let him sit and stew in his pen for a while, always put him where he can see the hens interact, so he can see the two hens are actually part of the flock. Do that for a number of weeks, then try again. Make sure they are out free ranging when you let the roo join, so they have room to evade him if need be. If he still tries to drive them away, you’ll have to choose between the black hens and the roo. If it were me I would send the roo packing...

 

[Phoenixxx]

Chickens are indeed racist. I have kept a mixed flock for years, and whenever i bring in new ones, the black ones all hang together, the little ones all hang together, the multi-coloured ones all hange together... it takes time, but i've found that adults will eventually integrate and accept each other, though they still tend to hang with their individual groups most of the time. The only times i haven't witnessed "chicken racism" is with a mixed hatch that were brought up together, although i anticipate that when my black cochins mature they'll be more inclined to hang with my black australorp and marans hens and the BO will likely find herself joing the maraduna basque girls. The araucana is just gonna find him/herself flitting about between groups being a unique colour.

 

[sawilliams]

Yeah I'd agree chickens prefer their own colors. I have a pair or barred rock hens. They were raise for 5 wks together with 2 EE and 2 reds. Then 1 barred and 1ee went to live with my friend. At about 15weeks old my friends got kicked out (owner wanted to move back in) and they couldn't get a house so we took the pullets back. Almost immediately one reontroduced the 2 barred paired back up and became buddies. The ee on the other hand i 5 of they pair off by 2 lighter, 2 darker and then the last is a soild black, black astrolorp mix.

 

[centrarchid]

We be smoking dope it appears.