Rooster(s) Hard on a hen(s)

[50-45-1]

The Nice rooster i have now is a free rooster off craigs list.
I had my husband shoot the previous rooster as he was picking on the hens who were not his favorites. I would never rehome such a rooster on to some unsuspecting person and there flock.
Also was not sure about the new one when i brought him home. He is a large easter egger and after quarentine and look but not touch time. I let him out with the girls. He passed 2 tests.
1. Shows no agression to myself or my family. In fact is skarred of us! I like to keep it that way.
2. Romances the girls, feeds them tidbits and watches over them with no (chase down and rape tactics)
Good roosters are culled every day for lack of a home and flock of their own. There is NO reason to keep a bad one.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

The Nice rooster i have now is a free rooster off craigs list.
I had my husband shoot the previous rooster as he was picking on the hens who were not his favorites. I would never rehome such a rooster on to some unsuspecting person and there flock.
Also was not sure about the new one when i brought him home. He is a large easter egger and after quarentine and look but not touch time. I let him out with the girls. He passed 2 tests.
1. Shows no agression to myself or my family. In fact is skarred of us! I like to keep it that way.
2. Romances the girls, feeds them tidbits and watches over them with no (chase down and rape tactics)
Good roosters are culled every day for lack of a home and flock of their own. There is NO reason to keep a bad one.

My rooster is not a bad rooster. Actually he is the nicest of all my chickens. Young roosters are like hormonal 16 year old boys. He just needs time to mature. Even separated he still alerts the girls every time the neighborhood hawks fly by, or if a thunderstorm is brewing. He is just getting a time-out until his hormones settle down.

 

[Shadrach]

I have 2 separated flocks. One w/ 11 hens and a rooster and one with 5 hens and a rooster. Both flocks have a hen or two with bare meat/skin showing on their back from the rooster constantly mating them. My plan has always been to add the small flock to the large one, just haven't done it yet. That will give me 2 roosters to 15 hens (fox recently got one).

Anything I can do besides separate the rooster or hens to allow the hens to heal up?

The first thing I would ask is is the skin on the hens backs broken, or is it just bare of feathers in patches.
What breed are your roosters and hens? If the roosters and the hens are different breeds are the roosters too large for the hens?
Some feather breakage is almost inevitable. Where the bare patches are on the hens back may give some indication of the problem. The rooster places his feet on the hens shoulders during mating. If his stance is too wide (the hen too small) then the roosters spurs can end up where his feet should be.
Contrary to many peoples belief it doesn't matter how many hens a rooster has when it comes to over-mating. A rooster has his favorite hens, usually two, or three. He will mate more with these hens no matter how many others are in the flock.
A solution not offered here often but very common where I live is to remove the roosters favorites from the flock for a period of time and keep them in a run.
This means the rooster will still be able to carry out his roll in the flock and the hens will get a rest from his attentions. Best thing about this method is nobody dies.It works very well.
The next thing to do is take your roosters off their perch one night and give them a manicure. Check for rough edges on toenails and points on spurs. There is no need to do anything drastic, just gently file any sharp edges and round off the spur ends a little with a file.
I wouldn't try to merge the flocks. If anything I would split them further.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

The first thing I would ask is is the skin on the hens backs broken, or is it just bare of feathers in patches.
What breed are your roosters and hens? If the roosters and the hens are different breeds are the roosters too large for the hens?
Some feather breakage is almost inevitable. Where the bare patches are on the hens back may give some indication of the problem. The rooster places his feet on the hens shoulders during mating. If his stance is too wide (the hen too small) then the roosters spurs can end up where his feet should be.
Contrary to many peoples belief it doesn't matter how many hens a rooster has when it comes to over-mating. A rooster has his favorite hens, usually two, or three. He will mate more with these hens no matter how many others are in the flock.
A solution not offered here often but very common where I live is to remove the roosters favorites from the flock for a period of time and keep them in a run.
This means the rooster will still be able to carry out his roll in the flock and the hens will get a rest from his attentions. Best thing about this method is nobody dies.It works very well.
The next thing to do is take your roosters off their perch one night and give them a manicure. Check for rough edges on toenails and points on spurs. There is no need to do anything drastic, just gently file any sharp edges and round off the spur ends a little with a file.
I wouldn't try to merge the flocks. If anything I would split them further.

Thank you. Too often people just kill the rooster without any attempts to correct the problem. It makes me sad when people say just kill the bad rooster and get another one.

 

[aart]

I think some roosters are unnessarily rough.

..or they have bad technique......and/or the hens have weak/brittle feathers that are easily broken.

 

[HenHouse4Life]

Same issue here with a couple hens. I purchased 7 saddles, put them on for about 10 minutes and took them off. They moved and looked uncomfortable to the bird. To me saddles are a waste of money don’t do it.

They may not have been the correct fit. Saddles work great for me

 

[Tacswa3]

I appreciate everyone's advice. I definitely don't want to cull any of my roosters. So maybe some type of separation is in order. They are both young, about a year old. One is a black Australorp and the other a light brahma.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Go with the separating. Culling is pretty final and if they are otherwise good birds then try. Good luck.

 

[Tacswa3]

My rooster is not a bad rooster. Actually he is the nicest of all my chickens. Young roosters are like hormonal 16 year old boys. He just needs time to mature. Even separated he still alerts the girls every time the neighborhood hawks fly by, or if a thunderstorm is brewing. He is just getting a time-out until his hormones settle down.

What did you come up with to separate him? Looking for ideas because I'll be separating mine soon.

 

[Alaskan]

..or they have bad technique......and/or the hens have weak/brittle feathers that are easily broken.

I agree... some hens have more brittle feathers/ softer feathers that easily break. It might be the hen's fault and not the rooster.

They may not have been the correct fit. Saddles work great for me

I have used saddles too and thought that they worked perfectly.

I wouldn't try to merge the flocks. If anything I would split them further.

I agree... I think the idea of putting the "overused" ladies in their own own might be a good idea.

The "number of females to males ratio" rules have never held true in my flock. When the males and females are well matched a single male with a single female, or 1 male to 2 females... whatever number... the females stay in perfect feather.

The females get mussed if
1. The size difference isn't right
2. The female has very soft feathers
3. The male is just nasty, doesn't have proper traits, taking care of the hens etc..
4. A bunch of males are all competing over a favorite (or 2, or 3) and they haven't yet figured out who belongs to whom. So a dominance struggle. This happens more often when a bunch of young pullets are added to the the flock... or a few young males... trying to find their place.

One thing too to watch, as a few other posters mentioned, once feathers have been damaged the skin and feather regrowth can start the habit of feather eating and feather picking.

Switching to a 20% protein feed can help, as can LOTS of things to do or way more space to roam.

If the roosters and the hens are different breeds are the roosters too large for the hens?

I have also noticed that. Even a well mannered male, if a much larger breed than the hens, tends to cause more feather damage.