Rooster attacked hen

[KRack]

I'll enter my guess. He's an immature cockerel hyped up on hormones. Until recently he was afraid of the older girls but his hormones are driving him to take over dominance of the flock. The older hen that was hurt was the dominant hen and was not having any of him taking over from her. They fought and she got hurt.

With her gone the pecking order was shaken up and the other hens are trying to reestablish who is in charge. The cockerel is still involved and doesn't want another hen to take over. The third hen is probably trying to take advantage of his disruption so she can take over herself.

I've seen this before but it wasn't this messy. Most of the time with my flock this transition is pretty peaceful but I have had some where the cockerel didn't have the attitude and personality to WOW! the hens and win them over until he was 11 months old. Also, most of the time the hens aren't that determined to hang onto the power but occasionally some are. The personality of the cockerel has a lot to do with this but the hens have their part to play also. I think you got a little unlucky in both these regards.

That cockerel will mature as he gets older. He could mature to the point that he wows the older hens with his magnificence and they accept him without fighting or force. The introduction of a mature rooster to a flock of mature hens is often very easy. But occasionally you get a rooster that just isn't that self-confident or a hen (usually the dominant hen) that just won't accept him. I don't know how yours will turn out.

So what can you do? How badly do you really want a rooster? One obvious answer is to get rid of him.

They mature at different rates. I can't tell you how long you need to keep him separated for it to workout, if it will. I'd give it at least a month before I tried again. See how it goes. If you need to, lock him up for another month. If it doesn't work out by the time he is 11 months old give up and get rid of him. Personally I would not have that much patience. And with him having the problems with the subordinent hens he may be lacking in the personality department and may not be able to overcome it.

Thank you!! I think I’ll keep him separated as long as I can, then reintroduce and see how it goes. The mature hens definitely let him know how low on the totem pole he was his whole life. He hatched alone and was brought up in a flock of mature hens, where the lead hen actually tried to kill him after hatching even though he was hatched under a flock mate. Took about 4 weeks of him and mom separated but visable, for them to be allowed around the flock.

It definitely does seem to be both the hens and his hormones. I have time and space, so I’ll see if I can get it to work.

Thanks for your reply!

 

[Bill1976]

I'm interested to hear if separating the rooster worked for you. I have run into the same problem with a ~6 month old Welsummer rooster. I have three ~2yo hens along with the other 6 ~6 month old hens with whom he was raised as a chick.

He has singled out one of the 2yo hens. I first thought they'd sorted it out, but today I saw he bloodied the back of her head pretty badly. He's by himself in a smaller run/coop now and I'm in the same boat you were...wondering how long I'll have to keep him separated to avoid him attacking that hen again. He doesn't attack the other hens like this, just the one.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can share.

 

[Mrs. K]

The question you need to ask is - how long do I want to wait? There is just no set rules that IF you do this, THEN the rooster will be nice. Some are, some are not.

So if you are tired of having them separated, well try it, if you don't like it, cull him. If you are not quite up to culling him now, wait a little longer and see.

IMO - I would give it a month. After that - it is a either this works, or it doesn't.

Why do you want the rooster:

• Well because I hatched/raised him...I am responsible for his life?
• Well, I like a flock with a rooster, but maybe not this rooster?

If it is the first one, you probably will keep him way too long, most of us do on the first one. Later on, with experience, people realize that it is a much better hobby to have a great rooster than try and keep a rotten rooster wishing he would be nice.

If it is the second, you need to cull him and find another rooster. A lot of people have a second rooster that is just so darn nice, they have not culled him. HE would be a darling in your flock. Find him.

Mrs K

 

[KRack]

Well, that sucks, sorry to hear that. It's going to probably take a month for the one hen he was after to heal up completely, so I'll keep him separated and then see how he acts. If he attacks her again, I guess I'll have to get rid of him.

Thank you both for the responses.

I’m sorry. Hopefully you have better luck!! Let me know how it goes for you.

 

[Bill1976]

Update:
The rooster in question is 7 mos old and I kept him separated from the hens for about 4 weeks. They could still see & hear each other, but he didn't roost with them and could not get to them.

I started turning him out with them on the weekends when I could keep a closer eye on him. I've noticed his aggression towards the one particular hen has abated somewhat and now he's been re-integrated with the flock. I've also started spreading the feed around over a wider area instead of everyone being fed in close quarters with one another.

These two things seemed to have helped.

 

[Tonyroo]

When it’s suggested to separate the rooster/cockerel, about how long does that mean? A day, a week, a month?

9 month old cockerels start to whine down.

If you can't wait or have a room for him on extended stay. Go ahead and get rid of him.