Rooster Aggression Directed at One Hen

[kattabelly]

Really?? I thought that meant killing them.

It can do.

 

[sourland]

I never had this happen until a coupe of years ago. This is what happened. I had a Roo that became heartless to this one hen. She was older, and I had decided to cull her in the fall. But in the meantime a predator got the rooster. She immediately did fine in the flock.

But the following summer, the new rooster started the same thing on the same hen. I did cull her, and peace was back in the flock.

So I don’t think your flock dynamics will go back. I think you need to remove one of them. Do you want to keep an old , non productive bird or the rooster.

You might pull out the victim and see how the flock interacts. If he picks a new victim, cull him. If the flock is calm and peaceful, cull her.

The thing is, this strife upsets the rest of the hens too.

Mrs K

Good, solid husbandry advice.

 

[Mrs. K]

It can mean killing them, but mostly it just means adjusting your flock. Often times flocks do need adjusting.

Personally I hate strife in the flock. I do not see it does the victim any good to be kept in strife. Unfortunately some chicken keepers just wish they would all be nice, when in reality the flock won’t become peaceful until the flock is adjusted. I myself, have been guilty of this.