Rooster has chosen one hen from the flock and she is soooo unhappy! What to do?

[klambert]

I love all my birds, including the rooster! He is big and beautiful and I love his crow AND he is sweet to my little girl!

However he has chosen one hen and wont stop harassing her. As soon as I open the pen in the morning she bolts to get away from him. She used to be happy and now always seems nervous. Rightfully so! All my other birds put themselves to bed. She waits outside my front door to have me take her back to the coop to put her up high and safe...

I don't want to get rid of my rooster But I can't subject her to this terrible life!
Even if I did re home him, wouldn't he choose his next favorite?

I feel just terrible! What can I do?!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I love all my birds, including the rooster! He is big and beautiful and I love his crow AND he is sweet to my little girl!

However he has chosen one hen and wont stop harassing her. As soon as I open the pen in the morning she bolts to get away from him. She used to be happy and now always seems nervous. Rightfully so! All my other birds put themselves to bed. She waits outside my front door to have me take her back to the coop to put her up high and safe...

I don't want to get rid of my rooster But I can't subject her to this terrible life!
Even if I did re home him, wouldn't he choose his next favorite?

I feel just terrible! What can I do?!

Welcome to BYC!

Sorry to hear that your little hen is having such a tough go of it right now. A little more information would be helpful.
How many birds of each gender do you currently have? What breed(s) are the birds (especially the roo and hen in question)? How much space do your birds have available to them? How old are these birds?

 

[klambert]

Thanks for responding! We have one rooster and 9 hens. Hes a mix and the girls range from banty to large bread. Shes a white sussex. I put a saddle on her last night so wont be able to grab on to her back. But she is so defeated! When she sees him running at her she just lays down. Poor girl! Hes been such a great rooster but I cant't help but dislike him right now;(

 

[DanEP]

We need to know how old these birds are to give better advice. If your rooster is young say 6-8 months he will probable settle down in the next few months. Right now he's like a teenage boy that just figured out he likes girls. It might also be that rest of your girls haven't matured enough to be ready to breed yet which cuts down his options.I had that situation once and just remove the hen from the flock for awhile till some of the other girls matured and it seemed to help spread his attentions around a little and thing got a lot more peaceful after that.
If that's not the case you might try pulling him out for a couple of weeks to give her a break and let him loose his place in the pecking order.When you put him back with the girls he will have to reestablish himself in the pecking order and he may be to busy to devote himself to just one girl.
These things may help but they may not. Unfortunately you may have to remove one of them from the flock to have peace. which one is up to you. You don't need a rooster to get eggs but they will help watch over your flock and will be needed if you want to breed them.

 

[klambert]

Thank you for your advice! The rooster is about two and the hens are all almost one. I will try seperating him out from the girls for a couple days and hopefully that improves things!

 

[CrazyTalk]

There's an awful lot of anthropomorphizing here - and I think it's distorting things. Chickens aren't people - they don't really have motives, or emotion.


Quote: A hen squatting/laying down is a sign that shes sexually receptive. This is normal.


Quote:
All of my birds bolt as soon as I open the door in the morning - are you sure you're not assigning motive here?


Chicken sex isn't romantic, and it isn't pretty, and sometimes roosters have favorite hens that end up looking a bit worn. I'm not sure there's anything out of normal here.