Rooster has thrown one more hen out of the flock and is mounting our duck

[RichnSteph]

The two might not be related but I figured I'd post it all up anyway. After going back and forth with one of our hens it has been decided that she's an outcast and will never be able to re-enter the flock so we'll be eating her. Now our rooster has apparently decided that another hen who used to be on top of the pecking order also needs to be voted off the island and he's ostracized her. The second hen came to me this afternoon as if she needed some human attention so I picked her up and petted her for a little while before resuming my wood cutting. The rooster jumped on her and she came running to me and settled on my boot. Odd for sure so I picked her up again and she settle in as if roosting on my forearm. After putting her down again the rooster grabbed her by her head and tossed her several feet away from everyone else and then on his way. Several minutes later I look up and he has mounted the cayuga female that we have..... no idea why he did so.


No real questions in that post. I just needed to rant for a second. This next week we'll be processing the two hens that have become outcasts.

 

[sourland]

I'd be more inclined to process the rooster. What's to stop him from 'ostracizing' another/all of the hens?

 

[RichnSteph]

Hmm. Good point and I'd be inclined to go that route if not for a couple of things.

1) Both of these hens have issues. The first one has been an outcast/hen pecked thing since we first received her and the second has been a mean old crotchety thing from the get go. We're thinking the rooster is just tired of the second one starting fights five or six times a day.

2) My wife loves the rooster. A lot.

 

[sourland]

Point # 2 well taken - I fully understand.

 

[lazy gardener]

If lover boy ostracizes yet an other hen after you invite the first 2 hens to the dinner table, I'd strongly recommend that he also be invited in for dinner.

 

[dekel18042]

How old is this rooster? He doesn't sound like a "lover boy" at all. A good rooster actually keeps peace in the flock. What are you going to do if the behavior continues and he decimates your entire flock?
In MY pecking order, my hens all rank above the rooster. Not crazy about the rooster I have now (just his breed) but the flock functions well as a unit.
Sounds like this rooster could use an "attitude adjustment" at best or an invitation to dinner.
BTW, I'm the wife and I wouldn't put up with a rooster's shenanigans.

 

[CrazyTalk]

If lover boy ostracizes yet an other hen after you invite the first 2 hens to the dinner table, I'd strongly recommend that he also be invited in for dinner.

Yeah, I'd agree.


How old are these hens? Is it possible hes kicking them out of the flock because they're beyond their reproductive age?

 

[RichnSteph]

The rooster is less than a year old Buff Orpington. The first hen he got rid of has never laid an egg that we can tell. I thought she was laying and getting broody a few weeks ago but it turned out that she was hiding in the nesting boxes. The other is a 3-4 year old RIR mix that still lays an egg every now and then but is more prone to fighting everyone else than she is to getting along in the flock.

 

[CrazyTalk]

The younger hen - no idea, maybe just not a healthy bird. The older one though sounds like exactly the sort that a young rooster would evict - shes probably challenging him all the time, and causing anarchy, and he's done putting up with it.

I'd just keep an eye on him - if he keeps kicking hens out, he may need to go - but there are bad hens too, and sometimes people forget that.


Dekel, if your hens all rank above the rooster in the pecking order, you've got a disfunctional flock - and the rooster won't be able to mate the hens. There's no point in having a rooster if he can't mate the hens. If he is mating them, hes at the top of the pecking order.

 

[dekel18042]

The younger hen - no idea, maybe just not a healthy bird. The older one though sounds like exactly the sort that a young rooster would evict - shes probably challenging him all the time, and causing anarchy, and he's done putting up with it.

I'd just keep an eye on him - if he keeps kicking hens out, he may need to go - but there are bad hens too, and sometimes people forget that.


Dekel, if your hens all rank above the rooster in the pecking order, you've got a disfunctional flock - and the rooster won't be able to mate the hens. There's no point in having a rooster if he can't mate the hens. If he is mating them, hes at the top of the pecking order.

NONONO!~ You misinterpreted what I said. I said MY pecking order, not the flocks'. Peace reigns in my flock and I have yet to see (or try to hatch) an unfertile egg. If there was a problem, I would figure out who was the cause of it and take action. That said, I feel that my hen's are of more intrinsic value than a rooster....And yes, I know, each hen's eggs can hatch, but the rooster will have more influence on the flock as a whole. But I also feel it is easier to replace a rooster. If something happened to my roosters today I could easily throw more eggs in the incubator, .Losing a laying hen would upset me more, as several breeds I have only one of.