Rooster missing feathers - down to skin

[Rivers Edge Homestead]

This pic is of one of my 2 roosters. The other was humanely dispatched tonight. He was always picking minor fights with this guy and hasn’t had the best attitude with the hens. Lately I’ve seen all my hens have feathers go missing in their backs which I attributed to the roosters, but when a hen started missing feathers on her head I started watching more closely and saw that this rooster (from pic) was beginning to have some broken off on his back as well but the other guy was not missing a single one from what I could tell. When I went to coop them up tonight I saw bare skin with some very minor bleeding. The pic isn’t terribly clear and makes it look a bit worse than it really is. After dispatching the other rooster I watched the flock get settled in on their roosting bars and they seemed to be much calmer about the whole process than usual. Did I make the right call in removing the other rooster? I was afraid if I didn’t my other one wouldn’t make it through the night.

 

[Chickenslol]

absolutely, though you may want to get your rooster one of those cute little chicken aprons so he can heal. if not, maybe separate him for a bit so he can heal. chickens will peck at red and bloody things because they’re interested so either cover it or separate him so he can heal safely.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

absolutely, though you may want to get your rooster one of those cute little chicken aprons so he can heal. if not, maybe separate him for a bit so he can heal. chickens will peck at red and bloody things because they’re interested so either cover it or separate him so he can heal safely.

That is pretty much what I was going to say.

 

[ChicNmom]

You totally did the right thing. There is no reason to put up with an abusive rooster.
Your girls and your other rooster would thank you for taking care of the problem.

I hope they all heal nicely!

 

[Rivers Edge Homestead]

absolutely, though you may want to get your rooster one of those cute little chicken aprons so he can heal. if not, maybe separate him for a bit so he can heal. chickens will peck at red and bloody things because they’re interested so either cover it or separate him so he can heal safely.

Thank you, the remaining birds all seem much more relaxed now, though I tried to get a saddle on my roo and he would not let me anywhere near him I’m currently dealing with temps around zero at night so I can’t separate him from the roost where the heat lamp is.

 

[Chickenslol]

Thank you, the remaining birds all seem much more relaxed now, though I tried to get a saddle on my roo and he would not let me anywhere near him I’m currently dealing with temps around zero at night so I can’t separate him from the roost where the heat lamp is.

seems fair, i’m not very knowledgeable about this but try anti infection meds, maybe Neosporin? treat the exposed skin like you’d treat a cut or a frost bitten comb, keeping it infection free should be your number one priority for now, and i’d monitor if he’s eating and such

 

[Wyorp Rock]

one of my 2 roosters. The other was humanely dispatched tonight. He was always picking minor fights with this guy and hasn’t had the best attitude with the hens. Lately I’ve seen all my hens have feathers go missing in their backs which I attributed to the roosters, but when a hen started missing feathers on her head I started watching more closely and saw that this rooster (from pic) was beginning to have some broken off on his back as well but the other guy was not missing a single one from what I could tell.

Time will tell if you made the right call in dispatching the alpha rooster instead of the delta.
2 roosters with hens generally will be vying for hens attention and of course this creates tension within a flock.
That damage looks very much like the Alpha rooster had been mating him as well as the hens. It's dominance. Now that the Alpha is gone hopefully the the Delta will be able to step up and handle the ladies.

I would not put a saddle on him. If the hens pick at his bare spot, put a little pine tar on there. Once he goes through a molt he'll regrow feathers same as the hens will.

Just my 2¢

 

[Rivers Edge Homestead]

Time will tell if you made the right call in dispatching the alpha rooster instead of the delta.
2 roosters with hens generally will be vying for hens attention and of course this creates tension within a flock.
That damage looks very much like the Alpha rooster had been mating him as well as the hens. It's dominance. Now that the Alpha is gone hopefully the the Delta will be able to step up and handle the ladies.

I would not put a saddle on him. If the hens pick at his bare spot, put a little pine tar on there. Once he goes through a molt he'll regrow feathers same as the hens will.

Just my 2¢

Interesting, I am still seeing a lot of fresh feathers on the floor of the roost in the morning and I watched one hen pulling feathers out of a couple of the others so I’m afraid the feather pulling behavior has already spread to more than just one bird. One has half the feathers from her head missing The remaining roosters’ back looks much better already, he seems to have fluffed up his downy feathers around the area to cover it up a bit.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Interesting, I am still seeing a lot of fresh feathers on the floor of the roost in the morning and I watched one hen pulling feathers out of a couple of the others so I’m afraid the feather pulling behavior has already spread to more than just one bird. One has half the feathers from her head missing The remaining roosters’ back looks much better already, he seems to have fluffed up his downy feathers around the area to cover it up a bit.

Feather loss on the back of the head is generally due to mating (the rooster grabs them by the back of the head).

If you are seeing them plucking feathers from one another, analyze how much space you have (coop/run sq ft) and what you are feeding. Space issues are often the culprit of feather picking, but sometimes lack of protein or some other nutritional deficiency can be contributed to plucking feathers and eating them.

 

[Rivers Edge Homestead]

Feather loss on the back of the head is generally due to mating (the rooster grabs them by the back of the head).

If you are seeing them plucking feathers from one another, analyze how much space you have (coop/run sq ft) and what you are feeding. Space issues are often the culprit of feather picking, but sometimes lack of protein or some other nutritional deficiency can be contributed to plucking feathers and eating them.

Thank you for the input. I will say the remaining birds all seem to be more relaxed since we got rid of the alpha rooster. We have a very large run but I’m afraid the roost which we lock them in at night to avoid predators is not big enough. I think if we cull about 4 more from the flock it will be a better fit.