Ok, so last weekend a hawk attacked one of my hens while they were all out free ranging. My girl was very traumatized and didn't eat well for almost a week. She also is still keeping one of her eyes closed all the time. Today was the first morning she had been back out with the flock since the attack. Well my big-dumb-cornish x- rescue-rooster attacked her. He's huge and he jumped on top of her and started pecking her very aggressively. I kicked him off of her and tossed him out of the run. My hen was scared to death, she ran into the coop and hid behind the food bin. When I picked her up and took her back into the run she seemed ok, and started mingling with the other girls (who all accepted her back just fine) and pecking at the some scratch...so he didn't do any damage, but I just don't know what to do with him now.
I'm not having him attack my girls, I'm just not going to put up with that. I've had my hens for a year and a half, I've only had him since September. He's been out with the girls for about 2 months, so he seemed to be pretty adjusted. We've known he is a rooster for about a month, and he just started crowing a week ago. I have him in the garage by himself for now until I can figure out what to do with him. I'd love to find him a new home, but I don't know anyone that wants a big white rooster...if I can't find him a new home I was thinking of keeping him separated until the weekend then seeing how he does with her when I am home and can supervise them better.
So my questions are:
Do you think this aggressive behavior is going to continue, since he is just now maturing? or do you think he just forgot who she was and will be ok with time?
He is a really big boy, and he just started crowing...is he going to get bigger?? How much growing do they do after they start crowing? He's a cornish x...Right now he is the size of a turkey, and he is solid..he's just huge.
What about when he's ready to start getting frisky with the hens? They are all standard large breed hens (RIR, Australorp, etc..with one Polish) Is he going to be too big for them, so that he could hurt them?
Ugh...I just don't know what to do with this boy! And we don't eat our chickens, so that isn't an option.
I'm not having him attack my girls, I'm just not going to put up with that. I've had my hens for a year and a half, I've only had him since September. He's been out with the girls for about 2 months, so he seemed to be pretty adjusted. We've known he is a rooster for about a month, and he just started crowing a week ago. I have him in the garage by himself for now until I can figure out what to do with him. I'd love to find him a new home, but I don't know anyone that wants a big white rooster...if I can't find him a new home I was thinking of keeping him separated until the weekend then seeing how he does with her when I am home and can supervise them better.
So my questions are:
Do you think this aggressive behavior is going to continue, since he is just now maturing? or do you think he just forgot who she was and will be ok with time?
He is a really big boy, and he just started crowing...is he going to get bigger?? How much growing do they do after they start crowing? He's a cornish x...Right now he is the size of a turkey, and he is solid..he's just huge.
What about when he's ready to start getting frisky with the hens? They are all standard large breed hens (RIR, Australorp, etc..with one Polish) Is he going to be too big for them, so that he could hurt them?
Ugh...I just don't know what to do with this boy! And we don't eat our chickens, so that isn't an option.
