Roo is rough on the hens

[txcadman]

I have a roo that is rough on the hens when he is trying to mount them. The hens are losing the feathers on their backs. He has one hen that is his favorite and she has the worst feather loss problem. What can I do to stop this? Does having a roo help with better egg production?

 

[GAchick]

You don't need a roo to get the same amount of eggs. You do need a roo to get fertile ones...

 

[Jenski]

I would not even stress my hens by keeping a roo unless he was of a quality sufficient for fabulous chicks.

And his genetic fabulousness would have to be enough to offset the ugly personality trait of "unnecessary roughness."

(Haven't yet met a roo that fabulous.)

Good luck!

 

[dieselgrl48]

Roo's can badly damage some hen's.Silkie's, and frizzle's are the worst for major feather loss.I have had some bare back Layer's before and polish hen's.I rehomed several roo's due to over mating when I first started the bird's.If you want to keep the roo with the hen's you should regularly clip nail's and spur's and may even consider chicken saddle's for the hen's.I have several extra roo's now with the breed's I got this year and will most likely sell them.Roo's are only for producing offspring so if you are just in them for egg's best to sell or rehome roo or make him a seperate area if ya want to keep him.

 

[teach1rusl]

You only NEED a rooster if you're wanting fertile eggs or to hatch chicks. Having a rooster around will not increase egg production. You can buy or make chicken saddles or chicken aprons for your hens (look in the auction area) to protect their backs if you keep your rooster.

 

[Kittymomma]

Quote:

I freerange my chickens and like to keep a roo or two around because they tend to be a bit more alert to predators--they can't stop them, but if the alarm gets sounded the dogs and I can come to the rescue. That being said I don't think keeping a rough roo is worth the stress it causes the hens. How many hens do you have? 1/10 ratio works pretty well for a backyard flock though his favorite(s) may still need saddles to keep from getting torn up. If you only have a few hens you'll probably need to remove the roo or put saddles on the whole flock.

 

[txcadman]

Thanks for all the help. I did not plan on a roo but one of my hens turned out to be a roo. I understand that I need a roo to fertilize the eggs, however I was told it also helps to stimulate better egg production. I debated to keep him if it helped increase production but apparently this is not the case. Thanks for clearing up this question. I have 5 hens to 1 rooster and they are not free ranging because of the amount of predators in the area.