Rooster / Hen problem

[bangarain]

hello - I have a single rooster who has seven hens, which I thought would be a decent ratio - but I’ve only ever seen him breed two, and his favorite, my poor buff Orpington hen, is all ripped up while the others are absolutely pristine. He is constantly going after her. Is there anything I can do to fix this? Her poor back feathers are ripped up and it looks like he’s broken skin once. I tried searching the forums but wasn’t sure what to search. I’ve had chickens for about four years now, but this is my first year with a roo.

I know roosters can be rough but this one poor girl being overbred seems majorly overkill.

Thank you in advance for any help

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sometimes a rooster will mate the easy hen repeatedly because it's easy. I would remove him either temporarily or permanently. If he's young he may mature out of it. If he's over 2, I wouldn't keep him. A good rooster takes care of all the hens, though most have favorites.

 

[bangarain]

She is definitely the most submissive, sweetest hen He is kind of a skittish rooster, so I think he doesn’t even bother going after the more confident hens. He is not 2 yet, so I do hope he’ll grow out of it. In the meantime I will try to separate him. Thank you!

 

[PrettyChickens15]

You could try buying a chicken saddle/apron for your hen. They're fairly cheap.
It protects the hens back from the roosters claws.

 

[PrettyChickens15]

How old is the rooster? If he is in the 4-7 month range this could be temporary.

 

[bangarain]

You could try buying a chicken saddle/apron for your hen. They're fairly cheap.
It protects the hens back from the roosters claws.

I was planning on it, but wasn’t sure if I could fix the source of the problem as well. Thank you!

He is just over a year old. He’s also a bit off in the head from being pretty brutally attacked as a little cockerel, dunno if that has something to do with it