I've noticed our rooster seems to like our two barred rocks more than the other six hens in his harem.
Both of the two barred rocks are now beginning to show feather loss on the back near the tail feathers and by the back of the neck.
So I isolated the two barred rocks during the day today -- locking them up in a special fenced in area that I normally use to house babies too young to be kept with the older birds. This protected them from him during the day, but that pen is not protected from rain or some nighttime predators (eg, snakes or mice), so close to bedtime I let them out to go back in the main henhouse to sleep.
Well, they were not out five minutes when his favorite of the two barred rocks, Mindy, flew hysterically away with him chasing after, and finally flew on top of my head. This was the flight of a bird that was both threatened and hurt.
When my wife finally got Mindy down from on top of my head, we found that she had an open cut in the area where she was missing her feathers. I was just outside the hen house when the commotion errupted so I'm not certain what happened, but I think DaddyRoo just wanted to mount her, and she's rubbed so raw from previous encounters with him that this time, it caused her to bleed.
Anyway, I can't keep her in the babie's special fenced in area indefinitely -- I need that area for the still too young to be merged youngsters.
How do I protect the hen from having that wound pecked by others? Is there a salve or something that I can get to put on it to help?
And how do I help protect her from an overzealous roo?
Both of the two barred rocks are now beginning to show feather loss on the back near the tail feathers and by the back of the neck.
So I isolated the two barred rocks during the day today -- locking them up in a special fenced in area that I normally use to house babies too young to be kept with the older birds. This protected them from him during the day, but that pen is not protected from rain or some nighttime predators (eg, snakes or mice), so close to bedtime I let them out to go back in the main henhouse to sleep.
Well, they were not out five minutes when his favorite of the two barred rocks, Mindy, flew hysterically away with him chasing after, and finally flew on top of my head. This was the flight of a bird that was both threatened and hurt.
When my wife finally got Mindy down from on top of my head, we found that she had an open cut in the area where she was missing her feathers. I was just outside the hen house when the commotion errupted so I'm not certain what happened, but I think DaddyRoo just wanted to mount her, and she's rubbed so raw from previous encounters with him that this time, it caused her to bleed.
Anyway, I can't keep her in the babie's special fenced in area indefinitely -- I need that area for the still too young to be merged youngsters.
How do I protect the hen from having that wound pecked by others? Is there a salve or something that I can get to put on it to help?
And how do I help protect her from an overzealous roo?
