rooster picks on only one hen

[jolenep]

I have a rooster (orpington breed) that has singled out one of my plymouth rocks and has bit her on her neck and had to apply some bacitracin to it drew a little blood. Seems to always pick on her and tries to mate with her more than the others. None of my chickens have started laying yet. they are about 18 weeks old. they are 5 hens and they are all about the same size except for one which remarkably does not get picked on but she stays out of the way and doesn't always get food and is small.
What is the remedy for this? how can I prevent the rooster from this behavior above on this particular hen?

 

[chickens really]

Separate the Rooster till your Pullets begin to lay...Cockerels mature quicker than Pullets....

 

[Ridgerunner]

You don’t have a rooster and hens you have a cockerel and pullets. That makes a world of difference.

Two different things could be going on. It’s possible that the Rock pullet is the dominant pullet and has been flock leader but the cockerel’s hormones have hit and he wants to take over. If she doesn’t want to give up her flock dominance she may resist. Since he is probably bigger, stronger, and more determined one way for him to take over is by pure force. I’ve seen that before but it was between a cockerel coming of age and a mature hen with no mature rooster in the flock. That cockerel went after her all the time, often attacking the head. After two days of pretty serious conflict she submitted and they became best of buddies.

Another possibility is that the pullet is getting ready to lay. When they are about to lay they give off signals the male can pick up on so he mates with hens (or pullets) that are laying to make fertile eggs instead of mating with hens that are not laying and don’t need the eggs fertilized. One normal signal is the pullet or hen that is laying or getting ready to lay has a bright red comb compared to pink or dull orange combs of those not ready to lay. The pullet is still immature enough to not know to squat, and he is especially attracted to her so he singles her out. His hormones are telling him to mate with her so he gets physical. Often a cockerel doesn’t have a good mating technique either. Combined with his enthusiasm that poor technique can lead to injury.

The head grab is a required part of mating. When the male grabs the back of the female’s head that is her signal to raise her tail out of the way and expose the target. Without the head grab there would be no fertile eggs. But when chickens fight they usually go for the head. That’s instinctive because that is where they can do the most damage. I don’t know which of these tow is going on with your chickens.

There could be other reasons he has singled her out but I consider these the most likely. Watching cockerels and pullets go through this adolescent phase can be pretty rough, especially if you haven’t seen it before. Often the cockerel is so hopped up on hormones he goes after all to the pullets. The pullets are immature and don’t have a clue what is going on so they resist his advances. When the cockerel and pullets mature into responsible adults the flock dynamics normally change and they become a well-behaved peaceful flock. But watching them go through this phase is often not for the faint of heart.

Since that pullet is being injured I also suggest you isolate that cockerel until a few of the pullets are laying, then put him back with them. If you can house him next to them so he can see them through the wire but cannot attack them so much the better. Then try it and see what happens. He should immediately mate a few of them to show his dominance so don’t be real quick to intervene unless one gets injured. If the pullets and the cockerel have matured enough it may pretty quickly get really peaceful. But if the conflict between those two continues after a couple of days you may need to decide which of them you really want in your flock.

Good luck!

 

[aart]

I have a rooster (orpington breed) that has singled out one of my plymouth rocks and has bit her on her neck and had to apply some bacitracin to it drew a little blood. Seems to always pick on her and tries to mate with her more than the others. None of my chickens have started laying yet. they are about 18 weeks old. they are 5 hens and they are all about the same size except for one which remarkably does not get picked on but she stays out of the way and doesn't always get food and is small.
What is the remedy for this? how can I prevent the rooster from this behavior above on this particular hen?

Welcome to BYC!!

Agrees separation may be the best solution....oh RR typed it all, and more, out...
...so I'll just leave the Welcome.