Rooster pulling hens feathers out of her head???

[Chickycammy]

I have 6 mille de fleur bantams, the hand sized ones. 2 roosters and 4 hens. Each Roo has 2 hens in their homes. I plan on getting more hens this year.
Tulip my biggest Rooster has his favorite hen of his 2. Tulip loves this one hen so much that he will almost daily mate with just her. Honey the hen in question doesn't seem to like him as much as he clearly loves her.
He has gotten now to where he's pulling her head feathers out as well as biting her comb. I've had to doctor her comb a lot so her housemate Sunflower doesn't peck at her.

My problem is that they sell dresses for when the girls lose their back feathers but I have no idea what to do about missing head feathers. Do I need to buy her a helmet? Is there anything that won't hurt her or my Roo but will make it at least taste bad so he'll stop pulling them out?

Never thought I'd meet a Rooster with a hair pulling kink...

 

[FarmerGirl101]

I have this issue as well. Maybe trying something like Peck no More could maybe help. I have yet to try that or find something that works.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When chickens mate the male grabs the back of the female's head. This head grab is her signal to raise her tail out of the way so he can hit the target. All roosters do this.

It sounds like your male possibly has terrible technique. He's pulling feathers or grabbing and cutting her comb. I don't know why it is affecting one girl more than the other, perhaps she is resisting him more so he feels he has to be more aggressive.

If he is pretty young he may improve with age. She may stop resisting so much. You could maybe separate them a couple of months and see if that helps.

It's not a problem with the other male and his two girls. It's not a problem with this rooster and the other girl. It is possible it is something to do with this girl more than the boy. Can you swap them around and see if she has this problem with the other male? That might tell you where the real problem lies.

 

[Chickycammy]

When chickens mate the male grabs the back of the female's head. This head grab is her signal to raise her tail out of the way so he can hit the target. All roosters do this.

It sounds like your male possibly has terrible technique. He's pulling feathers or grabbing and cutting her comb. I don't know why it is affecting one girl more than the other, perhaps she is resisting him more so he feels he has to be more aggressive.

If he is pretty young he may improve with age. She may stop resisting so much. You could maybe separate them a couple of months and see if that helps.

It's not a problem with the other male and his two girls. It's not a problem with this rooster and the other girl. It is possible it is something to do with this girl more than the boy. Can you swap them around and see if she has this problem with the other male? That might tell you where the real problem lies.

I could switch them out pretty easily. I'll try that and see if it helps.

Thank you

 

[Shadrach]

I have 6 mille de fleur bantams, the hand sized ones. 2 roosters and 4 hens. Each Roo has 2 hens in their homes. I plan on getting more hens this year.
Tulip my biggest Rooster has his favorite hen of his 2. Tulip loves this one hen so much that he will almost daily mate with just her. Honey the hen in question doesn't seem to like him as much as he clearly loves her.
He has gotten now to where he's pulling her head feathers out as well as biting her comb. I've had to doctor her comb a lot so her housemate Sunflower doesn't peck at her.

My problem is that they sell dresses for when the girls lose their back feathers but I have no idea what to do about missing head feathers. Do I need to buy her a helmet? Is there anything that won't hurt her or my Roo but will make it at least taste bad so he'll stop pulling them out?

Never thought I'd meet a Rooster with a hair pulling kink...

I'm assuming you are not talking about cockerls and pullets here. Head feather loss and comb damage at this age is usually caused by cockerels grabbing the neck feathers to try and force her to mate.

Assuming consenting adults here; It's unfortunate isn't it. True love.
There isn't an awful lot that can be done without causing other problems. I've has similar and watching the act I could see why; the roosters balance wasn't good and the hen would try and get up before the rooster got his feet back on the ground. Naturally he hangs on to whatever he's got a grip on.
Henry and Lima were much the same and I used to tell Lima to run but she would get in front of Henry and crouch for him.
I left them to it and kept an eye on the naked areas to check for any breaks in the skin.

It all boils down to how much damage. Only you can judge that.