Rooster suddenly attacking one hen

[LiizardWiitch]

I have a flock of silkies and they are all reaching a year old. I have a silkie rooster about the same age in there with them. He was raised with them from chicks. Hes never been mean to me and he does great around hatching chicks and little ones, but suddenly this week he is beating the crap.out of my splash silkie. She is hiding from him now and anytime he sees her he grabs her head and throws her around. He will full on chase her down. She is terrified of him now and not being able to be part of the flock. Im hoping to keep my rooster, but i will sell him if i need to. Does anyone have any ideas why this happened or how to stop it?

 

[azygous]

Hormones is why he's suddenly being a jerk. The only remedy is to keep him away from the hen or you will risk eventual serious injury to the hen.

I had this issue in my flock. My young rooster became enraged by an older hen rejecting his advances. He literally lost his mind and chased her into a small coop, cornered her, and tore her comb from her head. The blood spatter in that coop was as alarming as were her injuries. It was a miracle she wasn't killed.

I didn't get rid of the rooster. He's been with the flock for the six years since this incident, never repeating the aggressive behavior, but I took extreme measures to protect the hen from him. But your rooster may be of a temperament that more than one hen may be at risk.

Bottom line - you must take steps to keep your hen separate from the rooster.

 

[LiizardWiitch]

Hormones is why he's suddenly being a jerk. The only remedy is to keep him away from the hen or you will risk eventual serious injury to the hen.

I had this issue in my flock. My young rooster became enraged by an older hen rejecting his advances. He literally lost his mind and chased her into a small coop, cornered her, and tore her comb from her head. The blood spatter in that coop was as alarming as were her injuries. It was a miracle she wasn't killed.

I didn't get rid of the rooster. He's been with the flock for the six years since this incident, never repeating the aggressive behavior, but I took extreme measures to protect the hen from him. But your rooster may be of a temperament that more than one hen may be at risk.

Bottom line - you must take steps to keep your hen separate from the rooster.

I was actually thinkong about romoving my rooster from the flock for the weekend amd them adding him back in to see if this helped. I care more about my hens wellbeing so my rooster is gonna be living in a dog kennel for the next few days.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When I had something like this happen it was a fairly weak-spirited cockerel that finally matured enough to want to take over the flock at 11 months of age. Most f my cockerels do that at 7 months and it is fairly peaceful. The flock leader was the dominant hen and she did not want him to take over. He could mate the other hens, they would squat for him, but not the head hen. If she saw him mating another hen she would knock him off. She was the boss and wanted to stay that way.

When he finally stood up to her she fought and was defeated. For two days he kept her as an outcast, would not let her join the flock. If she tried, he'd chase her and grab her by the head. She was not seriously injured so I let them work it out. After two days of warfare she finally accepted his dominance and he let her back in the flock. She was still the dominant hen but he was flock master. They became best buddies, often hanging out together.

The fighting was vicious, either one could have been seriously hurt or killed, especially her. I did watch for that and was ready to separate them if necessary.

I don't know what would work for you. Letting them fight and work it out certainly has its risks. Separating him for a while might work. In your situation I'd probably separate the hen for few days to see how he gets along with the others. Separating her often will knock her down in the pecking order so she is no longer the head hen and is less likely to fight. None of this is without risks. It is possible you will need to choose between the two.

 

[LiizardWiitch]

When I had something like this happen it was a fairly weak-spirited cockerel that finally matured enough to want to take over the flock at 11 months of age. Most f my cockerels do that at 7 months and it is fairly peaceful. The flock leader was the dominant hen and she did not want him to take over. He could mate the other hens, they would squat for him, but not the head hen. If she saw him mating another hen she would knock him off. She was the boss and wanted to stay that way.

When he finally stood up to her she fought and was defeated. For two days he kept her as an outcast, would not let her join the flock. If she tried, he'd chase her and grab her by the head. She was not seriously injured so I let them work it out. After two days of warfare she finally accepted his dominance and he let her back in the flock. She was still the dominant hen but he was flock master. They became best buddies, often hanging out together.

The fighting was vicious, either one could have been seriously hurt or killed, especially her. I did watch for that and was ready to separate them if necessary.

I don't know what would work for you. Letting them fight and work it out certainly has its risks. Separating him for a while might work. In your situation I'd probably separate the hen for few days to see how he gets along with the others. Separating her often will knock her down in the pecking order so she is no longer the head hen and is less likely to fight. None of this is without risks. It is possible you will need to choose between the two.

I choose to keep her in the smaller coop with 3 juvinelle silkies while i am at work at least. And then i will let them free range together tonight and see how they do. Probably going to do this for the next several days.
Its weird cause they have moments of being fine together and then bam he is pissed off at her.

 

[LiizardWiitch]

Hormones is why he's suddenly being a jerk. The only remedy is to keep him away from the hen or you will risk eventual serious injury to the hen.

I had this issue in my flock. My young rooster became enraged by an older hen rejecting his advances. He literally lost his mind and chased her into a small coop, cornered her, and tore her comb from her head. The blood spatter in that coop was as alarming as were her injuries. It was a miracle she wasn't killed.

I didn't get rid of the rooster. He's been with the flock for the six years since this incident, never repeating the aggressive behavior, but I took extreme measures to protect the hen from him. But your rooster may be of a temperament that more than one hen may be at risk.

Bottom line - you must take steps to keep your hen separate from the rooster.

So ive noticed some hens in the group is also picking on her after separating her for the day not as severly though, nore normal pecking order. Shes not running away from them. The hen getting picked on is not and has never been a dominent hen she is one of the lowest of the group already. Im really unsure of what do to and i figure i have 2 options

Sell my rooster
Or sell my hen

So do i take turns separating them and seeing when the flock does best?

The hen is stressed and i domt eant her to start getting sickly. There is nothing wrong with her as far as i can tell.

She has some watermelom staining on her face should i try bathing them both and then re adding them back?

 

[LiizardWiitch]

So ive noticed some hens in the group is also picking on her after separating her for the day not as severly though, nore normal pecking order. Shes not running away from them. The hen getting picked on is not and has never been a dominent hen she is one of the lowest of the group already. Im really unsure of what do to and i figure i have 2 options

Sell my rooster
Or sell my hen

So do i take turns separating them and seeing when the flock does best?

The hen is stressed and i domt eant her to start getting sickly. There is nothing wrong with her as far as i can tell.

She has some watermelom staining on her face should i try bathing them both and then re adding them back?

Ive noticed my rooster also used to sleep.in the pile with the girls and now he sits on a roosting post away from them. Could be the heat but idk

 

[azygous]

Do you remember your childhood friends changing when everyone started experiencing changes to your bodies? The boys became virtual aliens and even some of the girls behaved in ways that were a far cry from how they used to be. Hormones change things. Same with chickens. They may have been brooded together, but hormones can change the way they relate to one another.

Cockerels can change the most, some becoming certifiably dangerous. There is no law that says roosters and hens must be housed together. It hurts no one to keep them separate with only supervised mingling. This is the safer route. It gives you time to observe the young roo and decide if he will be a benefit to the flock or too disruptive to maintain a peaceful flock.

This may require an addition to your coop as it did mine when I found myself with two young roosters that had no intention of cohabiting peacefully. Now, the second coop I had built to house the quarrelsome boys is used for many different things since then. You might want to consider this. It would make flock management much easier and enjoyable in the long run.

 

[LiizardWiitch]

Do you remember your childhood friends changing when everyone started experiencing changes to your bodies? The boys became virtual aliens and even some of the girls behaved in ways that were a far cry from how they used to be. Hormones change things. Same with chickens. They may have been brooded together, but hormones can change the way they relate to one another.

Cockerels can change the most, some becoming certifiably dangerous. There is no law that says roosters and hens must be housed together. It hurts no one to keep them separate with only supervised mingling. This is the safer route. It gives you time to observe the young roo and decide if he will be a benefit to the flock or too disruptive to maintain a peaceful flock.

This may require an addition to your coop as it did mine when I found myself with two young roosters that had no intention of cohabiting peacefully. Now, the second coop I had built to house the quarrelsome boys is used for many different things since then. You might want to consider this. It would make flock management much easier and enjoyable in the long run.

So i let him out of his dog kennel for a minute. He went straight for that hen and then another when i scooped her up. He also charged at the kennel door when i put him back. So im thinking bye bye time for him as i wont tolerate having an aggressive rooster.
My hens seem much more relaxed when he is put away too.