roosters and hens

[jorgalo]

My hens are pecking at my roosters feet until they bleed. When I noticed it I took my rooster out and put him in his own coop to heal, then I brought him back in and instantly 3-4 birds went for his feet again. I left them for the day thinking maybe it would stop, when I went to shut there coop door for the night I noticed new blood spots under the perch around where the rooster was so I know that they have pecked his feet to bleed again. Any idea why this is? Or solutions to make it stop? My farmer friend said that maybe they just don't like him? But I didn't notice a problem until now and they have been together for around 5 months already and my hens are around 7 months old and the rooster was one we found wandering around so I have no clue his age but he is id say on the smaller end.

 

[cavemanrich]

First......

Only suggestion I have for you is to wrap roosters legs thinly with gauze and apply gauze tape to keep legs physically protected from the pecking. The gauze keeps a cushion so the tape is not on too tight. Blood attracts chickens to persist on pecking. Wash off any blood he may have,
WISHING YOU BEST.

Keep us informed as to progress.

 

[wamtazlady]

You might want to get some Blue-Kote to put on his legs and toes. That should keep the others from pecking him.

 

[drumstick diva]

Welcome to Backyard chickens. How were his legs before they started pecking ? I'm thinking maybe he had leg mites and the hens were attracted to that. You could also try putting Vaseline on his feet/legs to soften his skin and help it heal. Maybe the hens won't want to bite stuff like that.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join the flock! I'm sorry to hear your girls are picking on the roo. I too would suggest getting something on his feet and legs to try and stop this habit that they see to have got into. I'm afraid once they draw blood and see it this creates a vicious circle and cause them to peck even more. You may need to remove him again so he can heal.

Wishing you the very best of luck, I hope you are able to bring harmony to your flock again.
Enjoy BYC

 

[Pork Pie]

You already have some great advice, so I'll just say a big hello and welcome to BYC.

Good luck

Ct

 

[N F C]

Blu-Kote, wrapping his feet, separating him to heal...those are all good ideas. Good luck with stopping the girls from tormenting him.

Thanks for joining us!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[NickyKnack]

Hello!

Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to joined the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC. Anxious to hear about your progress.

 

[jorgalo]

I took him out of the coop again. He's been in his own barn for 5 days and I've been taking care of his wounds they seem to be healing good.I'm going to have to try the blu-kote or something because I did a test run today and put him outside with the hens and 5 of them instantly went for his feet. So I took him back out and put him in a separate outside pen until I can get my hands on blu-kote! Thanks for all your replys they definitely help!