ROOSTER MEAN TO ONE HEN

[LadiesAndJane]

I have a little 3 lb silkie rooster. My only adult boy currently. He lives with a mixed flock of 9 hens of various breeds, silkies, polish, wyandottes, etc. Also one very big, gorgeous silver laced english orp. The polish girls are his favorites and they like him, too. Only one of the silkies let's him mate her, the others squawk and run away. This does not seem to bother him, as he has others that are willing. But, the orp does not like him either, for some reason this pisses him off and he is quite merciless to her, chases her and pecks her, very aggressively. He does not do this with any of the others, even those that do not care for him.
I am currently in the process of separating all the bantams, including the rooster, to their own coop and run, so this should solve the problem. I was just wondering why he has decided to be so mean to just the one hen? She is in the middle of the pecking order. I should add that these were all raised together from chicks.
Thanks!

 

[ButtonHoarder]

Could it be because she’s so big?

 

[aart]

Does the one hen let him mount her?
How old are these birds, in weeks or months?
Did they all grow up together or were some added later?

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Does the one hen let him mount her?
How old are these birds, in weeks or months?
Did they all grow up together or were some added later?

They all grew up together and are just a year old now. He never gave her grief before, only recent behavior. She does not let him mount her, but neither do 2 of the silkies and he does not bother them the same way. Seems to be a personal issue.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Could it be because she’s so big?

I have two other larger hens, no issues with them.

 

[Tonyroo]

Rooster will behave like that when the hen doesn't submit, so harassment is the order of the day till they submit. I saw this with my Wyandotte and Swedish Flower rooster. It lasted for about 3 weeks till he wore her out.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I had to re-home a rooster (Douglas) because he was trying to kill my Buff Brahma Buff Orpington mix hen named Nalla. She was the only one of her kind in the flock and Douglas walked over to her and started pecking her neck as hard as he could and drew blood almost instantly. I removed him from the flock and found him a new home. Don't know why he was after her so bad. You could remove the hen, but he'll start working on another hen. Best bet would be to get rid of him. Before I caught on to Douglas, he had pecked a deep hole in Nalla's back. I had removed her from the flock, and within a few days, I started noticing Nalla's half sister, Mia, was also getting a hole in her back, too. It wasn't until Nalla healed and I placed her back in the flock when I realized that it was Douglas doing everything. Then that's when he went after Nalla's neck. Get rid of that rooster, because he'll go after another hen.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I had to re-home a rooster (Douglas) because he was trying to kill my Buff Brahma Buff Orpington mix hen named Nalla. She was the only one of her kind in the flock and Douglas walked over to her and started pecking her neck as hard as he could and drew blood almost instantly. I removed him from the flock and found him a new home. Don't know why he was after her so bad. You could remove the hen, but he'll start working on another hen. Best bet would be to get rid of him. Before I caught on to Douglas, he had pecked a deep hole in Nalla's back. I had removed her from the flock, and within a few days, I started noticing Nalla's half sister, Mia, was also getting a hole in her back, too. It wasn't until Nalla healed and I placed her back in the flock when I realized that it was Douglas doing everything. Then that's when he went after Nalla's neck. Get rid of that rooster, because he'll go after another hen.

Thanks! He only does that with her and tidbits and is quite sweet to all the others. They will be separated this week-end, so I hope that solves the problem. I will definitely rehome him if I see this behavior continues.
Sorry about Douglas.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Rooster will behave like that when the hen doesn't submit, so harassment is the order of the day till they submit. I saw this with my Wyandotte and Swedish Flower rooster. It lasted for about 3 weeks till he wore her out.

This makes sense, but why doesn't he act that way to the two silkie girls that do not like him either?

 

[aart]

They all grew up together and are just a year old now. He never gave her grief before, only recent behavior. She does not let him mount her, but neither do 2 of the silkies and he does not bother them the same way. Seems to be a personal issue.

I had a cock target a hen once, he was after her every time he saw her.
Luckily she had room to get away and ended up bonding with a group of younger birds.