Rooster Advice - Rooster injuring hens

[JHH3]

I've got a rooster (almost 1 year old) that's overly enthusiastic with his mating and based on the location of the injuries to the hens he's gouging them with his spurs, either because they're trying to get away from him or he's just clumsy. In any event, I'm getting too many injuries too often to allow it to continue, plus I'm not a fan of bald unhappy hens.

Culling isn't an option, I do want fertilized eggs at some point. Besides, he's a nice rooster (his name is Rudy, I can't cull a chicken with a name)

In addition to Rudy the rooster, who is a big Wyandotte rooster btw, I have 4 red jungle fowl roosters. They all get along fine, though one of the jungle roosters will contest the big one's mating by pecking on his head and at the hen being mated.

I'm thinking about separating all the roosters, putting them together in their own bachelor pad.

My questions are...

How far away from the hens do they need to be housed? Do they need to not be able to see the hens or can they have runs that are next to each other?

If I take a rooster out for mating duty for a week or two will I have issues (fighting to the death and all that) putting him back with the other roosters?

Is there an alternative to removing him (other than chicken saddles, it's not fair to all the girls to put saddles on them all)? Any way to teach him how to play nice with the ladies?

 

[DobieLover]

No cockerel/rooster should ever be regularly injuring hens/pullets. I've never seen a near year old cockerel with spurs longer than an inch at most. Can you take pictures of his legs?

Culling does NOT mean killing. It means removing from your flock. Maybe he'd do better with older girls. And if you have 4 additional cockerels in a flock of, what, 24?, that is way too many. Are you certain the girls aren't just being very over mated? How much space does the flock have? How many birds do you have now?

If you are intent on keep all of the boys vs re-homing them, yes, get them out of the flock and into a bachelor pad. It needs to be out of eye-sight of the girls. The boys shouldn't fight if they have nothing to fight over. That includes space. They still need a proper sized coop and run.

 

[JHH3]

No cockerel/rooster should ever be regularly injuring hens/pullets. I've never seen a near year old cockerel with spurs longer than an inch at most. Can you take pictures of his legs?

Culling does NOT mean killing. It means removing from your flock. Maybe he'd do better with older girls. And if you have 4 additional cockerels in a flock of, what, 24?, that is way too many. Are you certain the girls aren't just being very over mated? How much space does the flock have? How many birds do you have now?

If you are intent on keep all of the boys vs re-homing them, yes, get them out of the flock and into a bachelor pad. It needs to be out of eye-sight of the girls. The boys shouldn't fight if they have nothing to fight over. That includes space. They still need a proper sized coop and run.

I'll try to get a picture of his legs, but his spurs are about the size of pencils in thickness and I'd estimate they're about an inch long. Not pointed sharp but rounded.

Flock of 21 total, 1 Wyandotte rooster, 4 red jungle fowl roosters, 1 red jungle fowl hen, 4 Barred Rocks, 2 Australorps and 9 Wyandotte hens. Currently 1 Australorp, 1 Wyandotte and the jungle fowl hen are separated recovering from injuries 2 of which were I believe caused by the rooster (jungle hen was picking at herself, I think an ingrown feather was the cause).

The other cockerels are red jungle fowl, small bantam sized chickens, I've not seen any of them even attempt to mate the bigger hens (nor the smaller jungle fowl hen). The big rooster mates multiple hens every day.

The flock has an 8x10 coop with 2 roosting bars and a yard fenced in with 100 ft of electric poultry net in a rough circle around the coop. As soon as the ground thaws and stays thawed I'm going to swap out to a slightly larger net which will give them a little more yard room.

I don't want to rehome the Wyandotte rooster because I do want fertilized eggs because I want to hatch some out at some point. The red jungle fowl I'm hoping to breed and get a few more hens, just need to get into the mental space where I can dispose of any new roosters that might hatch out. I might be willing to rehome a couple of them if I could find any takers and knew they wouldn't go into some ones stew pot.

If/when I separate them they'll have a decent sized coop and run, the out of eye-sight is going to be problematic. I can get them mostly out of eye-sight but viable sites for a new coop are limited, they might have to be positioned such that they can catch a glimpse of the hens from time to time when they're in their yard.

 

[LaFleche]

Often the rooster/cockerel claws cause feather loss and injuries, so you could just file them down. as well as the spurs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

based on the location of the injuries to the hens he's gouging them with his spurs,

Look at his feet and legs. Count how many spurs he has and observe how sharp they are. Then look at his claws, count them and see how sharp those are. He stands and grabs with his claws, not his spurs. It's possible the spurs are the problem but it just might be something else.

I'm getting too many injuries too often to allow it to continue,

If the girls are being injured it is dangerous. Injuries should not be allowed. You are certainly right about that.

Culling isn't an option, I do want fertilized eggs at some point.

You do realize that if you hatch eggs you will get more boys? Have you considered how you will manage that?

I'm thinking about separating all the roosters, putting them together in their own bachelor pad. How far away from the hens do they need to be housed? Do they need to not be able to see the hens or can they have runs that are next to each other?

Some people that do that say they have to be out of sight. Mine is across a fence so they can see each other. I think it is like everything else to do with chickens, different things work for different people. You can always try it and see. Be prepared to cover that part of the fence with something they can't see through if you need to.

If I take a rooster out for mating duty for a week or two will I have issues (fighting to the death and all that) putting him back with the other roosters?

I've never tried that but many people on here say they do exactly that and it is not a big problem. Others can have problems with that.

Is there an alternative to removing him (other than chicken saddles, it's not fair to all the girls to put saddles on them all)? Any way to teach him how to play nice with the ladies?

The only thing I can suggest is to blunt the sharp ends of the claws and spurs. You can file them or cut off the sharp tip. It's a lot like your toenails, if you get too deep you'll hit the quick and it will bleed a bit. But if you don't get into the quick they won't even notice. They will resharpen their claws over time with their scratching but you might get some temporary relief.

The big rooster mates multiple hens every day.

As the flock master is supposed to.

The flock has an 8x10 coop with 2 roosting bars and a yard fenced in with 100 ft of electric poultry net in a rough circle around the coop.
As soon as the ground thaws and stays thawed I'm going to swap out to a slightly larger net which will give them a little more yard room.

The more room the better but I don't think that will solve your problem.

I don't want to rehome the Wyandotte rooster because I do want fertilized eggs because I want to hatch some out at some point. The red jungle fowl I'm hoping to breed and get a few more hens, just need to get into the mental space where I can dispose of any new roosters that might hatch out. I might be willing to rehome a couple of them if I could find any takers and knew they wouldn't go into some ones stew pot.

I strongly suggest you think about this before you hatch any more chickens. Can you really handle it? Or will it just tear you up?

 

[JHH3]

No cockerel/rooster should ever be regularly injuring hens/pullets. I've never seen a near year old cockerel with spurs longer than an inch at most. Can you take pictures of his legs?

This guy is a big boy, he'll be a year old in mid-April.

 

[DobieLover]

This guy is a big boy, he'll be a year old in mid-April.


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Blunt his spurs and his nails and get the rest of the males out of the pen.
If any of the girls still have injuries, remove him too until they heal.
Then try reintroducing only him back to the flock and see how he does.
If he continues to injure the girls, he needs to go.

 

[JHH3]

Look at his feet and legs. Count how many spurs he has and observe how sharp they are. Then look at his claws, count them and see how sharp those are. He stands and grabs with his claws, not his spurs. It's possible the spurs are the problem but it just might be something else.

Posted a picture of his feet/spurs, his claws are sharp but the reason I think that it's the spurs doing the damage is because they are large and the injuries look like they are less lacerations and more tears. I think he's sliding off them or they are trying to get away as he dismounts and he's just raking their sides with his spurs.

You do realize that if you hatch eggs you will get more boys? Have you considered how you will manage that?

The main thing will be that they won't get names, I made the mistake of naming these chickens because they were meant to be layers. Names make it too easy to anthropomorphize them.

Any hatched boys will be raised separately, probably in a chicken tractor, until they are large enough to be worth eating then dispatched.

Some people that do that say they have to be out of sight. Mine is across a fence so they can see each other. I think it is like everything else to do with chickens, different things work for different people. You can always try it and see. Be prepared to cover that part of the fence with something they can't see through if you need to.

I've never tried that but many people on here say they do exactly that and it is not a big problem. Others can have problems with that.

I may try it, the ideal place for them would be right next to the existing coop, but it'd be hard to move them once they're established there.

I do have one place that I can put them that will be mostly out of sight but they might catch a glimpse of the hens at a distance. Probably will put them there and see how it goes.

As the flock master is supposed to.

I just don't have the experience to know how much is too much.

The more room the better but I don't think that will solve your problem.

There's only so much I can do anyhow short of free ranging them with no fence.

I strongly suggest you think about this before you hatch any more chickens. Can you really handle it? Or will it just tear you up?

I'm pretty sure I can, my biggest issue with this batch is that they all have names, they're my laying flock and my intent was for them to live out their lives giving me eggs and being happy chickens. That is what makes it difficult to have them hurt or killed, especially if that happens because I'm not doing everything I can to keep them safe.

That's what bothers me the most, is the ones that I've lost due to my own carelessness or inexperience.

Granted, it'll be difficult at first, especially with the jungle chickens because they're "pretty". But as long as they don't have names, grow up in a chicken tractor a ways away where I only have to check on them once or twice a day and aren't around long enough to have personalities, and most importantly I have a quick and easy way to dispatch them then I think I'll be ok.

And worse case scenario, I sell or give them away to someone else who can do with them what they will and never hatch out more.

 

[JHH3]

Blunt his spurs and his nails and get the rest of the males out of the pen.
If any of the girls still have injuries, remove him too until they heal.
Then try reintroducing only him back to the flock and see how he does.
If he continues to injure the girls, he needs to go.

My tentative plan is to remove all the boys to separate quarters, let the hens all rest for a few months so the ones that need to can grow feathers back, then reintroduce him and see how things go. If he mellows out and they stay feathered and uninjured, then I'll let him stay, otherwise I'll take him back out and house him separately unless I want fertilized eggs.

 

[LaFleche]

Looking at this picture, his spurs seem to grow inwards instead of backwards and this will downright gore the girls if allowed to grow much longer.

I would trim his spurs really short using a Dremel. There are videos on yout*be on how to do it correctly and without blood loss.

And please, remove the green ring around his right leg, it is much to small and might cause injury as they can grow into the skin.