roo causing hen to be bald

[emjay]

I have a pair of bantam cochins.
the poor girl is now bald due to the stupid nature of the roos breeding. he's not elegant nor graceful, and he's lippy.

short of eating him, feeding him to the resident owl, eagle or dogs. how can I make life better for the hen, without sacrificing the roo.
as much as he deserves it. (kidding, about feeding him to the other animals, I couldn't do that, no matter how bad

)
will her feathers grow back?

and is there something I can put on it that is distasteful so that he won't grab her?

I plan on rehoming them both this summer, she has gone broody right now, her eggs due this weekend.
he might get rehomed asap.

 

[gritsar]

You can put a hen saddle on the hen. That's what I do with my roo's favorite hen.
If your roo is young, chances are he'll get more graceful and skilled at mounting the hen as he gets older.

 

[emjay]

she's bald on her head, put a helmet on her maybe? haha.

 

[chickboss]

I am having the same problem with my BR/cross roo and his 3 hens. He is a youngster to. I am going to try and add a few more hens so that he can spread out the love a bit.

I wanted a few more adult layers anyway. But if that doesn't work I was going to try that stuff they sell in the feed store that is suposed to taste really bad and reduce picking. I figured it might work in this situation as well. I'll be watching your thread to see if any more suggestions come up.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Yep, my hen that wears a saddle has that same problem too. My roo has gotten better with age and only the one hen (his favorite) showes wear and tear.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I think you are talking about something like Blu_Kote or pine tar (which is what I prefer for pecking issues). Problem is, you put that on their head or back and the roo will still try to mate, but avoiding that stuff. He might end up doing more damage trying to avoid the icky stuff.

 

[SilverStar]

I am also having the same problem! A few of my hens are almost completly bald. I felt so bad for them that i decided to separate a few roos in another section of my coop for a while. Does anyone know how long i takes for hens to have their feathers grow back?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
If the feather is completely gone, shaft and all, it will start to grow back immediately but could take a few weeks to completely grow in. If the shaft is intact, it won't regrow until they go through a molt.

 

[SilverStar]

Quote:
If the feather is completely gone, shaft and all, it will start to grow back immediately but could take a few weeks to completely grow in. If the shaft is intact, it won't regrow until they go through a molt.

Ok thanks gritsar

Hopefully sooner than later! Since the temps have been warming up a bit more lately.... I worry about sunburn !

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
If the feather is completely gone, shaft and all, it will start to grow back immediately but could take a few weeks to completely grow in. If the shaft is intact, it won't regrow until they go through a molt.

Ok thanks gritsar

Hopefully sooner than later! Since the temps have been warming up a bit more lately.... I worry about sunburn !

You can put a saddle on the hens to protect them from sunburn, even a homemade one would help. Some folks that are showing their chickens will pull a broken feather out so that it will start to grow back in immediately.