Roo is very rough on the ladies. advice please

[CoffeeCow]

I have a pretty young flock , 8 pullets, and 1 cockerel. just to give you some info on their living conditions,
the coop is 6' x 20', plenty of roosts, and 6 nest boxes. the run is 20' x 35', so they have PLENTY of room for just 9 birds.

I know that my cockerel is young, and full of hormones, he goes after the pullets very often. there is 1 pullet in particular
that he likes a lot... and her back can prove it to you... her feathers are all tore up on her back, the others have a frayed
feather here and there, but Scruffys back is looking horrible. Is there anything I can do to help? she is not "bare" yet...
But if he keeps after her like he is, it won't be long before she has no feathers on her back.

 

[booker81]

Quote:
You could try an apron, or you could....remove the roo. It seems sometimes the roos like to really pick on one hen in particular, and it can be pretty unhappy for the hen.

I had a few roos, and I removed them to camp when they were either mean to people or mean to the girls. I now have two roos and 11 hens, and no one has the frayed look, no one is unhappy or picked on. It's just their order (one roo is kinda....special....and is more of the court's jester to the top roo. ) I don't want anyone picked on.

 

[teach1rusl]

You can try chicken saddles (some call them aprons). They should protect the back. Look on the auctions (everything else) thread and you'll find one or two people selling them. They're very reasonably priced; Or you can make your own.

 

[Mervin]

As goofy as they may look, a hen apron might help. It's basically a little piece of cloth that protects the bag with some elastic that loops over the legs to hold it fast. If you search around on here, I'm sure you'd find somebody with a plan or someone selling them.

You might get some responses about culling your rooster. I had one that was pretty rough on the ladies and that's the route I took. He just wasn't very nice at all. He wasn't nice to the hens or people.

 

[CoffeeCow]

I don't want to get rid of my roo, sheesh, why is everyones first response to get rid of the roo? he is very young, he is friendly to me and my 3 year old son.
I would like to give him a chance to let his hormones settle down before I ship him off to my freezer camp..

If he was aggressive to us at all, I would not hesitate, but he isn't, so I would like to give him the chance.

I will look in to the aprons/ saddles, thanks for the info

 

[bburn]

We are that way because there are roosters that a really good with their hens. I am lucky that my BO roo is very gentle. My BR roo is also. My cochin roo is most gentle of all.

That is the point. Some roos just have bad form and we have seen different.

I check my girls often and see no damage. If I were to see any I would get aprons. I have a hen that is one of two I bought from a woman that had baldness on her wings and a completely red head from her feathers being pulled out by a roo......I watched closely as she was really skittish with the rooster when it was time to put them all together. Now she shows no fear and he is not rough on her.

So....just sayin.....there are some rough roos and some gentle roos.....the choice is always yours.

 

[fratermus]

Quote:
Because the bolded info above was missing from the original post? Questions on the net are frequently answered based on the information given; I'm not sure there is a better way to do it.

I would also gently point out that culling was not "everyone's first response."

 

[oconnorfamily25]

get a hensaver- they protect the hen's back from roos and also reduce friction, so hawks and flying predators won't be able to get a good grip.

 

[booker81]

Quote:
Unfortunately, the roos I had that were rough on one girl never got over it, just got worse. After they started concentrating on one hen, THEN they started getting aggressive to people.

The ones that I have now were never rough on girls, and have never been mean to anyone. They didn't grow out of anything, they just were that way.

But yes, check the aprons first, but keep a wary eye on him

 

[CoffeeCow]

Thanks for all the advice, I will keep an eye on him.

I have a broody sitting on some eggs, If I happen to get a cockerel out of those, I will replace my current one if needed.

I am willing to give him a chance, and I want to hatch out eggs, so I need a roo at this time.
but if he ever, and I mean ever.. shows aggression to us, he will be in a pot faster than you can say stew.