Roo has kicked out a hen- now what?

[CheekyBeeks]

Our 1 yr old roo has officially rejected a hen that was part of an original flock before he came on the scene. She was Ms. Independent & has tried to lead the others off & runs from his mating attempts, so I think he sees her as more trouble than she's worth. I have separated her from the others for weeks now, as her injures were severe from his attack, & have attempted to reintroduce them multiple times to no avail. He literally tries to kill her EVERY time. I put on a leather glove & attempted to assist the reintroduction manually (protecting her head/neck) so he could mount & mate hoping that would solve it & they could just move on from there. Didn't work - he would not mate, just wanted to kill my glove instead.
Although he is young, he gives us ZERO issues so far, unlike some of the other roo posts i have read. He is acclimated to children, big dogs, cats- no problems. We can chase/catch/pick up all the hens (even if they squawk & make a scene) & he does nothing aggressive. I would just send this hen to a neighbors farm or something, but she is our youngest daughters favorite snuggling hen. Anyone have any suggestions as to what more we could try before sending her away? She can't just live the rest of her life in isolation here. It's a very saddening situation for the kiddos & any advice from veteran owners is appreciated.

 

[Stipenvlerk]

Our 1 yr old roo has officially rejected a hen that was part of an original flock before he came on the scene. She was Ms. Independent & has tried to lead the others off & runs from his mating attempts, so I think he sees her as more trouble than she's worth. I have separated her from the others for weeks now, as her injures were severe from his attack, & have attempted to reintroduce them multiple times to no avail. He literally tries to kill her EVERY time. I put on a leather glove & attempted to assist the reintroduction manually (protecting her head/neck) so he could mount & mate hoping that would solve it & they could just move on from there. Didn't work - he would not mate, just wanted to kill my glove instead.
Although he is young, he gives us ZERO issues so far, unlike some of the other roo posts i have read. He is acclimated to children, big dogs, cats- no problems. We can chase/catch/pick up all the hens (even if they squawk & make a scene) & he does nothing aggressive. I would just send this hen to a neighbors farm or something, but she is our youngest daughters favorite snuggling hen. Anyone have any suggestions as to what more we could try before sending her away? She can't just live the rest of her life in isolation here. It's a very saddening situation for the kiddos & any advice from veteran owners is appreciated.

Put her nearby but out of reach! That way he can see and get used to her but not touch her

 

[CheekyBeeks]

Put her nearby but out of reach! That way he can see and get used to her but not touch her

Thank you Stipenvlerk. Im sorry I wasnt more clear. She currently is in sight but out of reach. He already is used to her. She isnt new to the flock & they got along fine for months before this happened....

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I think you have a good handle on what your options are.

House her separately permanently.
Re-home her.
Cull her.

Or you can cull the rooster....

 

[CheekyBeeks]

Thank you Wyorp Rock. I agree. I really dont see any other options than those at this point....

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you Wyorp Rock. I agree. I really dont see any other options than those at this point....

It's the pits I know.

I'm not just throwing the previous comments out there. I've been there. I do understand what you mean when you say the rooster is literally trying to kill the hen. I've seen it and lived it. I wanted to keep that rooster badly, but in the end, I decided to cull him. What a difference in the whole flock once he was gone. I didn't realize at the time how much stress the hens were under, even though he was only targeting just the one hen and yes, he beat her badly, twice. I hate to admit that, but it happened. Lesson learned the hard way and the hen paid.
Anyway. Try housing her separately, maybe with a friend if you have another hen that is docile and agreeable with her, but do know likely the friend won't be welcomed back to the flock, so it would be a permanent separation as well.
Then. Really observe behavior, his and the flock as a whole. He may never pick out another hen to target, but I would still just watch.

Hope things work out for you. Just keep working it and change things up when you need to.

 

[CheekyBeeks]

It's the pits I know.

I'm not just throwing the previous comments out there. I've been there. I do understand what you mean when you say the rooster is literally trying to kill the hen. I've seen it and lived it. I wanted to keep that rooster badly, but in the end, I decided to cull him. What a difference in the whole flock once he was gone. I didn't realize at the time how much stress the hens were under, even though he was only targeting just the one hen and yes, he beat her badly, twice. I hate to admit that, but it happened. Lesson learned the hard way and the hen paid.
Anyway. Try housing her separately, maybe with a friend if you have another hen that is docile and agreeable with her, but do know likely the friend won't be welcomed back to the flock, so it would be a permanent separation as well.
Then. Really observe behavior, his and the flock as a whole. He may never pick out another hen to target, but I would still just watch.

Hope things work out for you. Just keep working it and change things up when you need to.

A heartfelt THANK YOU for sharing your experience & valuable insight. I feel there are striking similarities here to what you said. And I guess deep down, I'm unsure who is really the problem & Im just afraid to get it wrong, ditching the hen, only to find (as you experienced) that ultimately the Roo was the cause & needs to go anyways later down the road.... Decisions...Decisions...