Rooster de-feathering all my hens due to mating

[VermontGoose]

Hi all,
I have 8 hens and 1 RIR rooster. Over the past 6 months I began noticing the hen's backs were becoming bare. I ordered aprons I found online to protect their backs. The exposed bare skin invited pecking by the other hens. I checked after a couple months and the hens' backs are still bare underneath their aprons. I can't keep the aprons on forever; they can house red mites and the birds can't fluff their wings. I have read others in similar position will get rid of the rooster if he's too rough with the ladies. What do you guys think I should do? I didn't want a rooster but my "pullets" at local store turned out to have one rooster in the end. He does a good job of defending the ladies and finding them food. He tries to charge me unless I come in with a pipe. I've put ads online to give the rooster away; no takers.

 

[fluffycrow]

How old is he? Photos? If they are completely bare, it might not be your male anymore, but the females picking off any developing feather

 

[VermontGoose]

How old is he? Photos? If they are completely bare, it might not be your male anymore, but the females picking off any developing feather

Rooster is 1 yo. The bare backs are covered by aprons. The hens can't pick at the other hens' backs becasue the apron covers their backs. I'm saying the feathers aren't regrowing, and I wonder if you all would get rid of your rooster?

 

[Geena]

If you didn't want a rooster to begin with there's no real reason to keep him. The hens can keep a lookout for predators and find food on their own.
Sometimes the feathers won't grow back completely until fall when they molt.
It can be very difficult to find a home for roosters, especially with the common breeds like RIR. You might have to turn him into soup.

 

[3KillerBs]

The feathers will return after molt.

Some roosters are klutzier than others when mating. Some hens loose feathers more readily than others.

If there's no blood drawn it bothers the owners more than the birds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum from Louisiana. Glad you joined.

I checked after a couple months and the hens' backs are still bare underneath their aprons.

If the feather broke so there is even a tiny bit of shaft left the feather will not grow back until the next molt. If the feather was totally removed it should have started growing back by now. Sometimes the other hens will peck at the tiny feathers as they start to grow back, keeping them bare, but your aprons should protect againt that.

I have read others in similar position will get rid of the rooster if he's too rough with the ladies. What do you guys think I should do?

It has to be your decision, not mine. My goals are different from yours. The only reason you need a rooster is if you wany fertile eggs. Anything else is personal preference. Nothing wrong with personal preferences, I have a few myself. But that is a choice, not a need. I generally suggest you keep as few males as possible and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed to have problems with more males but the more you have the more likely you are to have problems. For many people the best number of males is zero.

What is considered rough on the hens will often vary depending on the person watching. What I might consider normal behavior someone else will consider horrible. Often immature cockerels and immature pullets can be very rough going through puberty but usually by the time they grow up the flock becomes pretty mellow. Since the initial feather loss was 6 months ago they may have outgrown that phase by now.

He tries to charge me unless I come in with a pipe.

None of that other stuff matters compared to this. I have no patience with a human aggressive rooster. A young child's eyes are the perfect height for a rooster's claws or beak to damage or destroy. Even if you don't have children around normally image him getting loose around a young child, let alone that a young rooster can send you to the emergency room or Urgent Care with his beak or claws.

I've put ads online to give the rooster away; no takers.

That's a good start, keep it up. I know Craigslist can be a pain. In addition, post in the "Buy-Sell-Trade" section of this forum, putting your location in the post title.

You might try to find your State or Country thread in the "Where am I? Where are you!" section of this forum, depending if you are in the USA or someone else. Not every state or country has an active thread but it can really help if you can chat with your neighbors.

Chat with the people at your feed store. They may know someone that will take him or maybe you can post a notice on their bulletin board.

A lot of people would eat him but a lot of people on this forum are just not ready to do that. I understand that not everyone is prepared to do that themselves.