Rooster singling out hen

[Jasper1014]

I have a light Brahma rooster (5 months old) who is just coming into puberty and is harassing one of my hens (almost 2 year old Americauna) so bad she won’t leave the coop. And when I bring her out to the run she gets bombarded by him or the 2 hens he was raised with. He tries to mount her and he’ll do little dances around her but she freaks out. Then the 2 hens that are also 5 months old will start attacking her. Unfortunately I’m in the dead of winter here and they are all confined to their coop and run. The coop is 8 ft by 8ft and the run is 8ft by 16ft, I have 6 chickens total and the rooster was originally a “girl” when I purchased him so he is my first rooster. It’s been 3 days and I have to bring her out and try to get her to drink and eat but she will only consume very little and is anxious to get back in the coop. She’s doesn’t have any eggs so is not broody. I’m so worried she’s going to become dehydrated or starve. I work and can’t be outside in 10-20 degree weather for hours a day trying to keep the peace. Any advice would be very helpful! Picture is of them in the run when this all started.
Thanks in advance

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'd probably just remove the rooster either temporarily or permanently. He will probably eventually kill the hen, or stress her out enough to die.

 

[Ridgerunner]

To me, it sounds like those pullets may be as much of a problem as that cockerel. It is not that unusual for an immature cockerel to try to mount a hen. Him dancing for her first shows better behavior than I'd have expected. I assume "freak out" means she tries to run away when he tries to mate and he grabs her to force her? Then the two pullets attack her by pecking at her, maybe around the head. The other two hens just stay out of the way.

You are not dealing with mature hens and roosters. You are dealing with three mature hens, one bratty snotty immature cockerel, and two immature bullying pullets. Relationships can change as they mature.

I'm not sure what your goals are with that cockerel. Why do you want to keep him? You wanted all girls to start with. I'd expect those two pullets to probably stop attacking her if he were gone.

You can try putting food and water in the coop as well as in the run. Give her a chance to eat and drink safely. See if things change as he and those two pullets grow up. I don't like this as much as removing the cockerel as they still have to deal with bedtime and it could escalate if she gets cornered.

If you can isolate him from the rest for several days and nights you could see how the other five get along. That might help you decide if you want to keep him.

Your goals, set-up, and everything else are different from mine. If it were my flock I'd probably eat her if I wanted to keep the cockerel, I'd eat the cockerel if I wanted to keep the hen. But I'm not looking at your flock and their interactions. I assume that is not an option for you. I'm not sure that would assure peace in the flock either.

You have a lot of room for six chickens. Chicken interaction can be complicated, especially during integration. Having a cockerel can make it much more challenging. Good luck!

 

[WhatsUpDuck]

Do they leave her alone when she is in the coop? I would 100 percent put food and water in the coop during the day for her! No reason she should starve or dehydrate! Has she had any injuries or just scared? Do they have clutter/hiding spots in the run?

 

[Jasper1014]

I'm not sure what your goals are with that cockerel. Why do you want to keep him?

I feel bad getting rid of him because I also don’t want him being put into a bad situation somewhere else and I’m quite attached to him and want him to be happy. But my hen has been here longer and she’s more established. I’ve been vegetarian almost 10 years and am against animal cruelty. I cringe having to “discipline” him but I do by pushing him away from her or holding him down/back so she can go where she needs to go.

 

[Jasper1014]

Do they leave her alone when she is in the coop? I would 100 percent put food and water in the coop during the day for her! No reason she should starve or dehydrate! Has she had any injuries or just scared? Do they have clutter/hiding spots in the run?

Yes they leave her alone when she’s in the coop. And no injuries that I can see, she’s just scared. And they do have didn’t spots and different levels of roosting spots. I built a small loft in their run and there’s a wooden ladder and a bunch of straw bails they can hop on and run around.

 

[FrostRanger]

I feel bad getting rid of him because I also don’t want him being put into a bad situation somewhere else and I’m quite attached to him and want him to be happy. But my hen has been here longer and she’s more established. I’ve been vegetarian almost 10 years and am against animal cruelty. I cringe having to “discipline” him but I do by pushing him away from her or holding him down/back so she can go where she needs to go.

Sometimes though you have to solve for peace in the flock and sometimes that means removing birds. I would remove the cockerel at least temporarily but if things don't straighten out with a few months of separation you'll need to make some decisions, otherwise that pullet is going to get seriously injured, ill from stress and malnutrition or killed. You unfortunately can't make them be nice to each other, there's things you can do to make it more likely they will but at the end of the day they either will or they won't and wishing won't change anything