Rooster singling out a hen?

[buffymama]

we got a new rooster last night and added him into our existing flock (13 hens). we made sure our girls were up in the coop asleep and then we set him in there in a cage with the cage door open. he basically stayed in there all night but sometime this morning he killed one of our buff orpy hens. two of our hens have been in a flock with a rooster so they have adjusted pretty quickly. our new ones have had a bit of trouble but all seem to be settling down. this evening i went to check on them and noticed that my favorite buff orpy named buffy was sitting under the waterer and panting at a very unusual rate. i immediately went into mama mode and scooped her up and put her in one of our big cages and brought her inside. she has a bit of blood on her comb and waddle and she is keeping her left eye closed. she has finally seemed to calm down and isn’t panting anymore. ive given her water and made sure she is cool. i layed with her for an hour and petted her while i did some research trying to figure out what to do. she seems like shes hurting just a little bit but other wise i think she is just petrified cause this rooster has attacked her all day and killed her best friend. is there anything we can do? do we get rid of the rooster? ive been sobbing all day cause ive raised these babies since a week old and i hate seeing them unhappy and in pain. any advice or support is appreciated.

 

[DobieLover]

we got a new rooster last night and added him into our existing flock (13 hens). we made sure our girls were up in the coop asleep and then we set him in there in a cage with the cage door open. he basically stayed in there all night but sometime this morning he killed one of our buff orpy hens. two of our hens have been in a flock with a rooster so they have adjusted pretty quickly. our new ones have had a bit of trouble but all seem to be settling down. this evening i went to check on them and noticed that my favorite buff orpy named buffy was sitting under the waterer and panting at a very unusual rate. i immediately went into mama mode and scooped her up and put her in one of our big cages and brought her inside. she has a bit of blood on her comb and waddle and she is keeping her left eye closed. she has finally seemed to calm down and isn’t panting anymore. ive given her water and made sure she is cool. i layed with her for an hour and petted her while i did some research trying to figure out what to do. she seems like shes hurting just a little bit but other wise i think she is just petrified cause this rooster has attacked her all day and killed her best friend. is there anything we can do? do we get rid of the rooster? ive been sobbing all day cause ive raised these babies since a week old and i hate seeing them unhappy and in pain. any advice or support is appreciated.

The rooster should be removed immediately. No rooster should ever be attacking hens.
Your traumatized girl should recover given time without that rooster around.

 

[Uff Da]

Don't let the rooster mingle with the hens yet. They need to be together, where they can see each other and interact, but not in physical contact. Keep them separate for several days, until they get used to each other. Then you can let him out among them, but only under supervision. After a few supervised visits, you can try full integration. But if he continues to beat up on anyone, I would get rid of him.

 

[Eggcessive]

That rooster would be gone in my flock if he really killed a hen.

 

[Mimi13]

Yep, gone in my neck of the woods too! A rooster can be an aggravation to the older hens to begin with. You know, the ones who’ve been able to live their life peacefully...without a man. However, no rooster should ever kill a hen. I would definitely make sure that it was the rooster who did the killing and not be lulled into thinking it was him when it could have coincidentally been a predator. Stranger things have happened. Just double check to be sure. But if he’s the culprit, get him gone just like you would if he was being human aggressive. There are too many good ones out there. You’ll hear that a hundred times, but you know what? It is true! Trust me, I know. Best of luck. You don’t want anything else to happen to your girls.

 

[jeepgirl13]

That rooster would be gone in my flock if he really killed a hen.

This may be why OP ended up with him in the first place.

I agree with you. Rooster cant hurt no one in a nice brine in the fridge....

 

[Mimi13]

This may be why OP ended up with him in the first place.

I agree with you. Rooster cant hurt no one in a nice brine in the fridge....

I’ll bet you are right. I didn’t think of that.

 

[jeepgirl13]

I’ll bet you are right. I didn’t think of that.

Some people think rehoming a nasty rooster is better than using him to feed the family. I disagree. Why let those nasty genes carry on? Why give that kind of a problem to someone else, especially someone who might be new to chickens?

I just recently dispatched a nasty rooster here. He made good bbq and my girls are SO much more happy and friendly. They even go back into their house now without being herded.

 

[Mimi13]

Some people think rehoming a nasty rooster is better than using him to feed the family. I disagree. Why let those nasty genes carry on? Why give that kind of a problem to someone else, especially someone who might be new to chickens?

I just recently dispatched a nasty rooster here. He made good bbq and my girls are SO much more happy and friendly. They even go back into their house now without being herded.

Bless their hearts and I agree. I’m not a ‘rooster rehomer.’ I either eat them or sell them to be eaten. Yum!

 

[buffymama]

Yep, gone in my neck of the woods too! A rooster can be an aggravation to the older hens to begin with. You know, the ones who’ve been able to live their life peacefully...without a man. However, no rooster should ever kill a hen. I would definitely make sure that it was the rooster who did the killing and not be lulled into thinking it was him when it could have coincidentally been a predator. Stranger things have happened. Just double check to be sure. But if he’s the culprit, get him gone just like you would if he was being human aggressive. There are too many good ones out there. You’ll hear that a hundred times, but you know what? It is true! Trust me, I know. Best of luck. You don’t want anything else to happen to your girls.

hi! thanks for the advice! my brother and i raise these girls together and we are gonna try to quarantine him and keep him near the girls but not where he can physically get to them! if it still is causing issues we are definitely gonna get rid of him somehow