Roosters aggressive to Barred Rock

[Mr Beaks]

Hello there! I feel silly for asking this but has anyone else had trouble with their roosters beating up on their BR hens in a mixed flock?
I have one 2 year old BR and have had several cockerels and roosters over the past couple years and have observed every single one of them beat up on my poor girl. They don't act like they want to mate as they stand in front of her, grab her by the comb and kick and peck at her face, paying close attention to her eyes. We have given away each rooster each time and now have a Silver Sebright who does the same exact thing! The poor girl is now completely blind in one eye and does not want to come out of the barn at all. This only occurs with the BR and none of the other 30+ breeds we have. Any insight would be appreciated and
thank you in advance!

 

[bobbi-j]

Is that the only BR you have, or do you have more and they do it to every one? Could be that particular chicken and not the breed that they are picking on.

 

[micstrachan]

Wow, how bizarre! How old is she? Has she ever shown signs of illness? I wonder if they’re picking up on something about her we humans can’t see. Does she lay normally?

 

[Chullicken]

I'd definitely look into if she is 'normal'. Is it only rooster aggression or do you observe hens doing it as well? If its just roosters and you are not breeding them, I'd just loose the boys all together. I have one that is constantly going broody with my mixed flock of hens that have no broodiness what so ever, so when she appears once a day in the run they go ape on her. I solved the issue by just having her in a solitary coop next to my man coop with an adjacent run so she can still get the social interaction, just not the physical. Worked out really well, its the one in my profile picture. I let her out while I do chores and she follows me around like a dog. Probably my most healthy chicken I have, no rooster aggression or hierarchy battles to ruin her feathering.

 

[leighks]

Awww your poor girl! I also have a mixed flock, and my BR is the low girl in the pecking order. The rooster doesn’t beat her up like what you are describing, but the opposite- that’s his favorite hen to mate with, and she’s starting to get a little torn up.
From what I’ve read about the breed and have observed, BRs are very docile, probably making them easy targets. And because she has previous injuries she may be an even easier target- not sure why the roosters are the ones being mean though.
Idk what your set up is like, but maybe you could have her and a companion or 2- who you know get along with her- and keep them in a separate coop and have a fenced off area or run for them outside to prevent her from contact with the meanies. Besides physically separating her (with another bird so she’s not lonely) I’m not sure there is much else you can do without rehoming anyone. Sorry, maybe others will have some ideas. Good luck!

 

[Better Than Rubies]

Hello there! I feel silly for asking this but has anyone else had trouble with their roosters beating up on their BR hens in a mixed flock?
I have one 2 year old BR and have had several cockerels and roosters over the past couple years and have observed every single one of them beat up on my poor girl. They don't act like they want to mate as they stand in front of her, grab her by the comb and kick and peck at her face, paying close attention to her eyes. We have given away each rooster each time and now have a Silver Sebright who does the same exact thing! The poor girl is now completely blind in one eye and does not want to come out of the barn at all. This only occurs with the BR and none of the other 30+ breeds we have. Any insight would be appreciated and
thank you in advance!

Awe. I'm sorry your hen gets beat up. I hope you can find out the reason why, or get a rooster that'd be nice to her.
This probably isn't relevant at all, but I just wanted to say my neighbors have a couple Barred Rocks, among other breeds, and a White Black-Tailed Japanese Bantam rooster, and his favorite hens seems to be at least one of the BR hens (he's pretty good with his girls and doesn't overmate them, either, and they even lie down in a bundle together, lol).