Rooster tearing up one hen!

[CajunChickenGuy]

My little flock of chickens (1 roo / 7 hens) is about a year old now and a couple of weeks ago I noticed one of my hens skin on her neck and head ripped open. My rooster has always been a little tough on his hens, but just feather loss. This hen looked horrible, so I isolated her to a cage and treated her wounds. She healed up quickly and I put her back in with the others.

She now cowers in the corner of the coop before I let them out in the morning, with the rooster going after her often. Her wounds haven't reopened, but she is steadily losing more feathers to his attacks. It's like he just wants her out of the flock all of the sudden. She is still laying 5-6 eggs a week, but I feel really bad for her.

Should I cage her for a while, or just wait to see if this runs its course?

 

[AV8RChick]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I am a chicken novice but I have had similar trouble. It started with one of our roosters wearing out the feathers on the neck and back of his favorite hen. I got that hen a hen saver apron. While it protected her back, he seemed to get worse with the rest of the hens over time and after about 3 months I had a dozen bald headed, back worn hens. I tried putting various creams and home remedies on the hens heads so he wouldn't want to bite the back of their heads when he jumped on them. None worked. The problem worked itself out when the rooster decided he wanted to mount my husband and is now in freezer camp. Now I am giving them Nutrena Feather Fixer feed and their feathers are starting to grow back. I hope your problem doesn't spread the way mine did, but I definitely think a hen saver is in order for your gal.
Jeffers Pet Supply sells the aprons or you can make one.
It seems to me that removing the hen will only exaserbate the problem as I would imagine the other hens (in addition to the roo jumping her) will pick on her when you reintegrate.

Good Luck!
Amy

 

[CajunChickenGuy]

My poor hens have been dealing with feather loss for quite some time now. Most of my hens are missing feathers between their wings and on their necks. As long as they are healthy and laying I'm happy. But for some reason my rooster just doesn't like this hen any more. He isn't aggressively breeding with her, he is just attacking. I don't mind my hens looking a little rough in order to keep my rooster...he is a beautiful and brave SOB and I've seen him protect his hens in some pretty uneven situations. He just seems determined to remove her from the flock for some reason.

 

[AV8RChick]

The only time I have seen a rooster do that is when the hen in question has been sick - which I guess is another way a good rooster protects his flock. Just a thought...

 

[CajunChickenGuy]

She doesn't seem sick...eating, laying and acting normal when the roo isn't around her. As soon as the roo comes anywhere near her, she takes off and cowers. But maybe my rooster knows something that I don't, and I should cage her in case she is sick.

 

[CajunChickenGuy]

So I solved the problem without caging my hen. I finally got so mad watching my roo go after that hen that I started yelling, ran at him and gave him a little boot. I decided to do this every time he goes at her. It's been about three weeks since I let him know that she is under my personal protection and I haven't seen him attack her in over a week. My roo is still very friendly to me (not scared of me) and the hen is even eating with the rest of the flock, which she was too afraid to do just a couple weeks ago.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Just to add to an older post.....

I have the same issue frequently with my roosters.
Solutions that have worked for me:
1. Provide additional hens if possible. Sometimes small flocks with a rooster promotes overbreeding because there are only so many hens to breed.
2. Separate the injured hen(s). I keep a single rooster with between 8-14 hens but sometimes he will have a "favorite." If so, i will remove her until she has recovered.
3. Remove the rooster either through isolation or permanently.
4. Only keep one rooster unless you have adequate hens for more (12 hens/rooster). Multiple roosters promotes competition. Competition can cause more aggressive and rougher treatment of the hens.
5. Be mindful of the size of rooster vs size of hens. If the size difference is too great, sometimes the damage from even normal breeding habits can be damaging. Try to only breed properly aged and suzed birds together.

Just some things to consider that I have found helps the situation.