Roo attacked hen

[ChixChic]

Why?? He ripped off her entire tail, all but one feather, and her entire rump is bloody. I seperated her from the flock. Will she ever heal? Will she grow back her tail?? (If she lives).

Also, what should I do with this mean ol' Roo?? I have a flock of 20 birds... 3 of which are ducks, and about 6 are Roo's. I have raised them all together and have not had any problems until this. Should I sperate the Roo's from the hens??

Please help asap.... I am worried about my little hen.

Thanks!
LeeAnn

 

[Mahonri]

Too many roos. They get real aggressive like that when there are more than one roo to 10 hens.

Cut it down to one roo and get rid of the one that did that your hen. That will leave you with 1 roo to 11 hens.

I do have a roo pen.... but even then, the low one on the pecking order can suffer.

 

[jafo]

Put him in the freezer. How old are they? My opinion, if they're "young" it'll get worse, too many roosters.

 

[ChixChic]

I got them as babies in April, so they are about 6 months old. Is he old enough to put in the freezer?? This one roo has been progressivly showing dominant and aggressive behavior recently, even towards us.

Now, the hen seems to be okay, other than not haveing any feathers on her rump. Will she grow them back? If so, how long will it take? Should I keep her seperated until she is all healed?

Thanks SO MUCh for your input!!!
LeeAnn

 

[deidreschultz]

I got mine in march. 4 out of 8 are roos, and so far they get along. the hens are laying, and the dominant roo mates them all the time. sometimes when he's doing his think the #2 roo will sneak in and get a hen. it's funny to watch them i think you may have just gotten an unusually mean roo. no chicken expert. ours are kept together in their house and run. they all know their place in the pecking order. good luck

 

[Judy]

He's plenty old enough for the freezer. They're at their most tender around 14-18 weeks.

 

[scooter147]

She was probably higher than him in the pecking order and he was going to knock her down a peg or two.
FREEZER CAMP!!!

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Yes, get rid of your mean rooster as well as 4 others. The proper ratio is 9-10 hens to 1 rooster. I'm sure one of the reasons he did this to your hen was to show everyone that he was in charge and to regain order. No matter why, it is behavior you do not want. Rid yourself of him and do something with 4 other roosters and you should be okay in that section.

The hen might grow back the feathers before the molt. It depends on her. Although, don't be surprised if does molt them back in the spring. Just make sure none of your hens have picked up any unwanted 'pecking' behavior. That would be one of my greatest concens right now. It has happened to me and is not easy to fix. On that note, I think it would be in yours and her better interest if you kept her in a separate pen alongside her flock-mates. That way you will have no pecking and she will be semi-part-of-the-flock.

 

[ChixChic]

"make sure none of your hens have picked up any unwanted 'pecking' behavior"


What do you mean by this??


Thanks so much, all of you for your help! I will send him to the freezer along with 4 others. I know which one I will keep. I appreciate it!

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

With chickens, it's 'monkey see, monkey do'. If they see that picking feathers can be fun and yummy, they will start doing it. And it's worse if there is blood. Chickens really are little dinosaurs and they love salty blood, which is why when someone is bleeding, I take care of the problem right away.

I have a girl who was picked clean of her feathers on her back. (they were ripped above the cuticle so they won't re-grow until they all molt out and grow back next spring.) Turns out, I was lucky and my flock was doing this because they neded more protein in their diet (feathers contain protein) and they weren't doing this because they were bored. Bored chicks is hard to fix. As soon as I introduced more protein into their diet, pecking subsided.