Rooster fighting chicken!! Help!

[aart]

Maybe because she's already laying?

Yep.
Fern will submit when she's ready.

 

[JedJackson]

View attachment 1216257 View attachment 1216258 View attachment 1216259 View attachment 1216260 View attachment 1216261 View attachment 1216262 View attachment 1216263 View attachment 1216264 View attachment 1216265 View attachment 1216266 View attachment 1216267 View attachment 1216268 View attachment 1216269 View attachment 1216270 View attachment 1216271 View attachment 1216272 View attachment 1216273 Hi...looking for some opinions/advice. I'm new to chickens and just trying to understand the whole pecking order. Last week my black silkie Fern was injured from an attack. (She's about 7 months old. Has never laid an egg but also has never crowed.) She had blood and missing feathers on head and back of her neck. Now it's clear that my rooster must have been the culprit. But what's the reasoning here? Is the black silkie actually a roo? Is my Fern a Fern"ando." I was almost positive she was a hen but she's the only one the rooster picks on. He is constantly bullying her and gets along with everyone else. I have just 4 chickens out there. I thought I had 3 hens and 1 rooster.

I have a video but I guess the file is too large to post so I'll post screen shots of the video.

In the video the rooster Pancake keeps circling the silkie Fern and then jumping on her, attempting to
grab by the neck and pecking. Fern is standing in one place in the middle and jumping/fighting back. So what's going on here? Is this a fight for dominance...do I have two Roos or does the rooster want to mate with her? I'll post pics of Fern in the comments. She's missing some head feathers from her recent fight with Pancake.

This is all pretty normal behavior. She's probably at the top of the pecking order and was previously above Pancake until he started feeling his oats. I know it is unpleasant to watch, but in my experience, cockerels often are brutal to dominant hens/pullets for a brief period until the hen/pullet submits and allows the cockerel to do his job. Intervening can actually prolong the problem, although I don't blame you for stopping it. I would advise giving it time, unless you really don't want the cockerel at all, in which case it's best to find him a new home ASAP. Separating him out for a while could help, too.

 

[MichyA]

This is all pretty normal behavior. She's probably at the top of the pecking order and was previously above Pancake until he started feeling his oats. I know it is unpleasant to watch, but in my experience, cockerels often are brutal to dominant hens/pullets for a brief period until the hen/pullet submits and allows the cockerel to do his job. Intervening can actually prolong the problem, although I don't blame you for stopping it. I would advise giving it time, unless you really don't want the cockerel at all, in which case it's best to find him a new home ASAP. Separating him out for a while could help, too.

I tried not to intervene too much...I only pushed him away when I thought he was actually going to hurt her. There hasn't been another fight like this since...the rooster pecks at her and he occasionally jumps at her. Hope they could work it out! I dont mind having a rooster as long as I have a happy flock.

Thank you for your advice!

 

[JedJackson]

I tried not to intervene too much...I only pushed him away when I thought he was actually going to hurt her. There hasn't been another fight like this since...the rooster pecks at her and he occasionally jumps at her. Hope they could work it out! I dont mind having a rooster as long as I have a happy flock.

Thank you for your advice!

I hope it works out too! Good luck.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

If she is female... I love how she stands up for herself! ... but I too [am]... confused with her fighting back. Didn't think that was typical for a female.

In my expert opinion this "hen" is a little to game to really be a hen.

 

[junebuggena]

Fern is definitely a pullet, but she's not mature enough to be mated. She's being very clear in her body language about that fact. Pancake is not taking the hints. So she is forced to defend herself. He's not being a good boy. Definitely separate him.

 

[Chickassan]

He's definitely not being a good boy. I'm pretty sure Fern is just a bossy little pullet and bossy little pullets think absolutely nothing about fighting an immature cockrel that's taking things too far. I've seen it and when both birds matured everything was beautiful, in fact she's the roos favorite hen.

 

[MichyA]

I've been watching the past few days and he's been nice to her! He's not trying to mount her or attack her...and she's not isolating herself from the others. Hoping they worked everything out!

 

[MichyA]

Just an update in case anyone is interested...I've been keeping an eye on Pancake and Fern and we made it through the entire week with no more fighting. Hoping they figured out their pecking order. Fern is no longer hiding or isolating herself. The 4 of them are all back together again.

 

[aart]

That's great!!
Updates are always good for future reference.