Rooster's favorite chicken...

[kscottjoyce]

Hey there,
Hope you all are doing well!
I have 3 hens and a rooster. I got the rooster since i live in an area where everyone owns chickens and when I only had the hens they would spend most of their time in other yards with other roosters. The rooster I got ended up having a favorite hen to inseminate. Now that hen is really getting beaten up and spends most of the day hiding from the rooster and spending time on her own. Just wondering if there is any way to change the roosters behavior so that it will not continue ripping up my hen?
Thank you for any help!

 

[Jferlisi]

Quote:
Most roosters will have a favorite hen, both of mine have favorites so thats natural. I dont know what to do about the beating part of it.

 

[Laigaie]

Sounds like you need a saddle for her, to keep her from getting torn up by the constant attention. If that's not enough, you may simply have too few hens to keep the roo happy.

 

[Betsy410]

I am having the same problem. I have 4 hens w/ 1 roo and 2 of my hens are getting bare backs. A girl at the local feed store suggested removing his spurs. I hate to get rid of him but I didn't really want a roo but one of our chicks turned out to be a roo. I am anxious to see what others advise.

Betsy

 

[Captain Carrot]

either add more hens so he doesn't give all his attention to the three that you have, or you could order some chicken saddles/aprons.These are kind of like back protectors to stop the roo pulling feathers and scratching the hens.

As for the spurs, you could clip them and file them off so there not so sharp, but he'll want his spurs for fending off preditors.

Betsy, lif you don't want a roo let him grow and eat him. just don't give him a name.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Some roosters are just rougher than others. If he is very rough to the ladies, you might do better with a different roo. But it really sounds like you have too few. Ten hens to a rooster, or even a few more, is a better number.

I'm seriously over-roo'ed myself, and have several bare backs and one hen who spends half her time in the coop too. I want the genetics of the other Roos though, so I'm going to have to pen them.

 

[oldchickenlady]

I had the same problem with my roo, he would knock down other hens to get to his 'girl'. He started tearing her skin badly. So I found here on BYC a post about no sew chicken saddles. Put that in the search box and it will probably pull it up. I made mine out of a thick knit shirt that I had put in the rag pile for car washing. You cut 2 holes for the wings and 1 for the tail. You may have to do a little trial and error to get the fit right, but it is real easy. I used a double layer of fabric and it worked wonders. I also used one to protect a wound on another chicken. She wore her apron most of the winter. I would bring her in and spray Vetericyn on her wound then put the chicken saddle back on to keep the other hens from pecking at it. They both healed up great and I got rid of the roo. So now my girls squat for me! You can make the saddle out of blue jean material, too.

 

[kscottjoyce]

Thank you all for your help. I think tomorrow I will break out my sewing machine and create a saddle for her. I am not sure getting more hens would even help, he seems to go right toward her whenever he has the chance. She is starting to bleed under her wings while my other hens seem to be fine with how rough he can be. He is 9 months old and has pretty small spurs. He is actually calm enough for me to hold him but there is just this one hen that he beats up.