Rooster is perfect to all hens, except one?

[tviss711]

Hi all. I will try to give as much context as possible here, I’ve never experienced this degree of targeting.

Our flock consists of 3 older hens, 6 pullets and one young rooster (5 months). He is the son of our original rooster Hawkeye and we kept him out of all the boys because he had the best temperament toward us and the girls. I know young Roos are hormonal and can be aggressive as they come into their own before leveling out. I’m hoping what we are experiencing is that and he will simmer down with time.

Positives: he dances for all the ladies, tidbits, tidies up nesting boxes and settles disputes between the girls fairly. He immediately runs toward any hen that is squawking in distress. All the younger hens submit to him, and all my older hens now do except for one, my 11 year old olive egger. Surprisingly, that isn’t actually the hen he has been bullying. He has been bullying our sole surviving hen from the dog attack several months ago, Dottie.

She is a golden sex link and has been squatting for him regularly, so this isn’t a failure to comply with mating type of aggression. He will chase her down, peck and peck and peck at her, and he has been so aggressive that he actually partially tore her comb off one morning and now it is healing, but it won’t heal reattached so it’s kind of flipped over. When he does this, he doesn’t even mate with her, it is just aggression.

Her comb still has blood flow and the injury isn’t impeding her in any way. It’s not infected and is doing its thing. I just felt so bad for her. We have her and the older hen separated from him so she would not be alone and they get along very well. He was separated for the day when we discovered the initial injury. I already know you are supposed to remove the aggressor and not the “victim”, but right now we removed her to allow her comb to heal without him bullying her, or the younger girls curiously pecking at her injury. He is with the younger hens and one of the older hens. We have two coops so we can keep them permanently separate if we need, but I’d like to have one flock.

Just seeking advice, aside from his issue with our one hen he has been a good rooster so far. I’d like to keep them both and I won’t get rid of Dottie, she was here first and was one of our first birds. But I don’t want her living in misery. I’d rather keep them permanently apart than rehome either.

Our only other thought was that Dottie has spurs, so perhaps he is confused and thinks she is a rooster? Would trimming her spurs down help? They are long and sharp but I don’t think she even is aware she has them otherwise our rooster would probably be the injured one. Is it possible that is the problem here? Or unlikely? I’ve never trimmed spurs before but feel I could do it carefully after watching a video. She is easy to handle.

We are hoping that once she heals up, and his hormones start to calm down (he is 5 months old), that they could be reintroduced without major issue. Before reintroducing we would probably separate our rooster for a few days, reintegrate the older hens, and then reintroduce the rooster to all the girls.

Any advice is appreciated. I know some people have hard and fast rules for roosters (like one problem arises and they are soup), but I want to give him a chance as he is one of only two babies that I was able to keep that hatched from our original flock that was killed, and aside from this he has been the ideal rooster. It’s really been a bummer as he’s fantastic in every other way.

 

[50-45-1]

I've had similar rooster problems in the past.
I had a rooster dislike a "crowing hen" once.
I had a rooster be brutal with a speckled sussex hen because she had a larger than normal stand up comb.
I had a rooster good in all ways except he viscously peck any other bird that tried to eat next to him at the feeder.
I had a rooster once that would go out of his way to harass new chicks with there broody mom.
Most of these problem behaviors ended with these roosters being replaced.
Roosters in my opinion are stupid, and honestly, people cull good roosters they would gladly give away to a good home if they could find one.
There is no reason to keep a bad behaving rooster that is causing trouble that could otherwise be a peaceful barnyard environment.
You have to make the decision as master of your flock. My expierence says these behaviors are likely not going to change.
In my flock hens always take presidence.
After all they supply me with the eggs.
If you are determined to keep this rooster, I would immediatly seek another flock home for this hen, because her life will be miserable.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I already know you are supposed to remove the aggressor and not the “victim”

To me, that's just silly. You solve for peace in the flock and you try to meet your goals. We all have different set-ups, different flocks, and different goals. How we go about achieving that will vary depending on circumstances.

I’d like to keep them both and I won’t get rid of Dottie, she was here first and was one of our first birds. But I don’t want her living in misery. I’d rather keep them permanently apart than rehome either.

So these are your goals. Let's work with that.

I don't know why your young cockerel is attacking her. It could be different reasons. This behavior may change as he matures, it may not. It may have something to do with the hen. I'm not going to try to guess all the different things it might be.

I'd keep them separate for a while. Give him a chance to mature and her a chance to heal. Hopefully they can see each other which might make it easier if you decide to try to integrate them later.

I'd keep them separated for a month or so before I tried to reintegrate them. Try when you can observe and see how it goes. If it doesn't go well maybe try again a month later. Keep trying until you decide it will not work, then resolve to house them separately, splitting your flock as you will.

Our only other thought was that Dottie has spurs, so perhaps he is confused and thinks she is a rooster? Would trimming her spurs down help? They are long and sharp but I don’t think she even is aware she has them otherwise our rooster would probably be the injured one. Is it possible that is the problem here? Or unlikely? I’ve never trimmed spurs before but feel I could do it carefully after watching a video. She is easy to handle.

I seriously doubt the spurs are the problem. You can trim them if you wish, it will probably make you feel better. It won't do any harm.

 

[tviss711]

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate it - I think that’s what we will do, is keep them separate and I’m thankful we have the ability to do so. They can see but not touch each other the way we have them separated which I’m glad to hear is a good thing.

I’ve never seen a hen have her comb torn from her head like that before so it was quite shocking, especially coming from him! We will try to reintegrate in a month or so. On a day that I can supervise of course!

 

[Yardmom]

Be aware the hens might be aggressive toward her if you try to integrate her back to the flock later. Being able to see her does not hold her place in the hen order.

 

[tviss711]

I've had similar rooster problems in the past.
I had a rooster dislike a "crowing hen" once.
I had a rooster be brutal with a speckled sussex hen because she had a larger than normal stand up comb.
I had a rooster good in all ways except he viscously peck any other bird that tried to eat next to him at the feeder.
I had a rooster once that would go out of his way to harass new chicks with there broody mom.
Most of these problem behaviors ended with these roosters being replaced.
Roosters in my opinion are stupid, and honestly, people cull good roosters they would gladly give away to a good home if they could find one.
There is no reason to keep a bad behaving rooster that is causing trouble that could otherwise be a peaceful barnyard environment.
You have to make the decision as master of your flock. My expierence says these behaviors are likely not going to change.
In my flock hens always take presidence.
After all they supply me with the eggs.
If you are determined to keep this rooster, I would immediatly seek another flock home for this hen, because her life will be miserable.

Thank you for the response. As stated previously, I would not force her to live with him, and am grateful to have the ability and space to keep her and a couple of her friends separated permanently if it means she can live peacefully without being harassed by him.

I suppose my question was more of one wondering if people have ever experienced roosters maturing out of this kind of behavior or not, and it sounds like it’s just going to be a waiting game to see how it goes with her when he’s a little older. Thanks for sharing your experiences, it helps me to have more tempered expectations when we go to reintroduce in a month or so.

 

[tviss711]

Be aware the hens might be aggressive toward her if you try to integrate her back to the flock later. Being able to see her does not hold her place in the hen order.

Yes, we will be cautious and supervise any integrations.

 

[Mrs. K]

I have had chickens for years, and never had this problem until last year. I have a BA that was mercilessly attacked by the rooster and a chosen hen.

I debated what to do - I often preach solve for peace in the flock. I took to letting them out more so they had more space. A coyote picked off that rooster and the top hen. Which is kind of too bad, but instantly there was peace in the flock. So I thought, ok, that should be the solution.

BUT - I had a rooster chick grow up. Took over the flock, and just like last year, same time of year. He hates the black hen. He has been a fair rooster, I call him Lieutenant. Not a bad rooster, not perfect...but he hates her.

I think I am going to cull her this year.

Mrs K

 

[tviss711]

I have had chickens for years, and never had this problem until last year. I have a BA that was mercilessly attacked by the rooster and a chosen hen.

I debated what to do - I often preach solve for peace in the flock. I took to letting them out more so they had more space. A coyote picked off that rooster and the top hen. Which is kind of too bad, but instantly there was peace in the flock. So I thought, ok, that should be the solution.

BUT - I had a rooster chick grow up. Took over the flock, and just like last year, same time of year. He hates the black hen. He has been a fair rooster, I call him Lieutenant. Not a bad rooster, not perfect...but he hates her.

I think I am going to cull her this year.

Mrs K

Thank you for sharing your experience. It does seem strange to me too. This hen was also picked on by the top hen of our previous flock, the other hen would mount and harass her a bit from time to time, but not any of my other hens. And never bothered her as much as our rooster now does (or did before we separated her).
We thought since she was the sole survivor and now part of a new flock, no one would learn to behave this way toward her. And then our otherwise perfect roo just decided he doesn’t like her either.

Funny you mention your Roos name, our roosters name is Colonel Potter. His dad was Captain Hawkeye. (We are MASH fans.)