Rooster really rough with the ladies

[roxanne]

My barred rock rooster had gotten so rough with my hens that the smaller ones have lost most of their feathers in the middle of their back. Does anyone have any suggestions to stop this rough mating behavior?

 

[Friendly_Lurker]

Separate him from the girls for a while, and get them saddles.

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

How many hens do you have with him? You could try saddles. Are you using him for breeding purposes, ect?

 

[roxanne]

I have 6 hens:
2 barred rock
1 road island red
3 Arucanas

I have never heard of saddles?

We live in the mountains and have a lot of predators. We have the rooster for protection as well as for breeding.

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

Look up hen saddles on google. It's a fabric pad to put on hens.

 

[Friendly_Lurker]

I have 6 hens:
2 barred rock
1 road island red
3 Arucanas

I have never heard of saddles?

We live in the mountains and have a lot of predators. We have the rooster for protection as well as for breeding.

You should get guinea birds. They are great alarm animals, though they do go off a lot even if there's nothing happening.