Why is my Rooster singling out one of my hens from our flock of 10 to kill her. She is a black Australorp and I have 3 younger ones that look almost identical to her. She eats & drinks as usual, poop looks fine and she lays an egg 5 out of 7 days. I can see nothing wrong with her. She is a bit more docile than some of my hens but not unusually so. I've tried separating them for a couple of weeks where they can see each other but no contact other than through the fence. Every time I try to reintroduce her he immediately takes action. She stoops down for him to mount but that's not his goal. He goes to the front and starts aggressively pecking at her head. She is now brooding and sitting on eggs in a small coop with a run that's attached to the large coop but I've shut the door to run from the large coop to keep her safe. I need to decide what to do. Is it possible that he will lay off once she has chicks to care for?
He's fine with the rest of the flock including the new chicks that hatched a week ago. There is plenty of space in and out of the coop. They free range in an area way more than adequate for the size of my flock. He's never agressive with me or the grand kids either. We had to put our last Roo down for the same reasons with a different hen. Acted exactly as this one is acting.
I'm hoping there is a solution to this problem so that I don't have to put him in the soup pot.
He's fine with the rest of the flock including the new chicks that hatched a week ago. There is plenty of space in and out of the coop. They free range in an area way more than adequate for the size of my flock. He's never agressive with me or the grand kids either. We had to put our last Roo down for the same reasons with a different hen. Acted exactly as this one is acting.
I'm hoping there is a solution to this problem so that I don't have to put him in the soup pot.
