Rooster attacking broody hen

[Trish1974]

One of my hens has gone broody, and since I'm not getting fertile eggs I've been trying to break her. Due to my work schedule my attempts are "half-@$$ed" so to speak. When I get home in the evenings, usually around 6:00, I take her off the nest, toss her out the door and shut the coop door until its time for them to roost. As soon as she exits the coop, my not-quite-1-yr-old rooster puffs up and runs at her like she is an intruder and attacks her. If she runs, he chases her. This went on for about 15 mins last night and the night before. Even after he calms down he will still randomly go after her. She walks around all puffed up like a turkey tom, growling and making odd sounds, I'm sure because she's mad she can't get back in the coop. Is it that behavior that is setting off my rooster? Surely he knows who she is even though she's been in the coop all day; they can't have that short of a memory. This morning since I had the day off I booted her out first thing, and he still attacked her. He had not had an issue with her before she went broody. This is my first time with a rooster. Can anyone explain this behavior?

 

[Mckennas poultry]

IF you don’t want her to be broody put her in a small wire crate outside for 2 days or put her in an ice cold bucket of water for 5 mins

 

[Mckennas poultry]

As for him attacking the broody hen, that rooster would not make a good dad for the chicks if you let her brood, Infact he’d probably eat them

 

[bobbi-j]

@aart has good pics of their broody buster. Hopefully they will chime in and share their experience.

 

[RWise]

Is he fighting or trying to mate her?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some cockerels mature enough to act like a rooster with the flock by five months, though that is pretty rare. For most of mine it's normally around 7 to 8 months when they mature enough to make that transition from cockerel to rooster, though some have gone months longer. They are all different. It could be that your almost a year old is still more of a cockerel than a rooster.

On the other hand, a good rooster should recognize the hen is broody and leave her alone. Not all roosters are good. Some roosters don't have the self-confidence they need to be able to win the hens over by personality alone so they may resort to force.

I'm not sure what is going on. I've seen a rooster old enough to be a rooster do similar stuff but he quit when the broody hen ran away. The one that did that was not a good flock master, he was a bit lacking in self-confidence.

That hen is not walking around fluffed up and clucking like that because she is mad. She does that to show she is broody. That should be enough to tell the other chickens to leave her alone. But it seems that sometimes some roosters and some other hens (especially dominant hens) take that behavior as a challenge to their dominance. Chicken behavior, especially related to dominance, can be tricky.

I've found the best way to break a broody hen is to elevate a cage with a wire bottom by hanging it or setting it up on something and keep the hen in there for at least 72 hours (three full days). Put water and food in with there but do not give her anything that looks like a nest. Keep her there day and night. After three days let her loose and see what she does. If she goes back to the nest repeat for another three days, but most of the time three days is enough.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As for him attacking the broody hen, that rooster would not make a good dad for the chicks if you let her brood, Infact he’d probably eat them

If you had put a smiley with this to show it was a joke I'd probably have laughed. But this is the way myths and misinformation get spread on the internet and live forever after. It is almost unheard of for a rooster or other hen to eat a living chick, even if the rooster or hen and not the best.

 

[Mckennas poultry]

Here’s your smiley face

Are you laughing?

 

[aart]

@aart has good pics of their broody buster. Hopefully they will chime in and share their experience.

My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop with feed and water.

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

Feed and water added after pic was taken.

 

[Trish1974]

Is he fighting or trying to mate her?

Its a full on fight stance. Hackles raised, wings fanned out like a turkey. Not the cutesy-putsey wing drop dance. Similar to the way the broody hen looks when I kick her out of the coop. So maybe since she is fanned out like that he sees that as a threat? I should mention too, that he's only attacking her when I kick her out of the coop, like I just tossed in a new chicken. When she's on the nest he leaves her alone.