Roo is Trying to Kill Hen

[chukster]

we are new to this great past time but we have a problem. Our roo has been attacking only one of the hens.....not to mate, but actually has jumped on her and pecked her so badly that the back side of her head has a huge scab on it. We thought this would pass but this behaviour has persisted now for a couple of weeks and only toward this one hen. Is he trying to kill her because he obviously not mating as I know what that looks like.

I have already separated him and I like him but what to do next?

We have 4 Orpington Buff hens and a roo in a 10 x 10 foot enclosed run and nice coup.

thanks for any help.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

If you really like him but want to save the hens, I would build a seperate area for him. Then when you want fertilized eggs you can just place on of the ladies(not the victimized one) in his enclosure for a short(!) period of time under supervision.

Another option would be, look at tethering him inside the run of the coop and give him his own little house(overturned half barrel with door cut in side). That way when he wants one of the hens he has to call them over, but with him tied or tethered, they would be able to escape him. If you Google "tethering chickens" you will find information on how to do this.

I had thought about using tethering within the hen house as an option to keep my roos from fighting with each other, yet give both access to the hens.

-Kim