Rooster's loving is getting a bit rough!

[chinzilla]

Our lovely Bo Boy has been very pleased with his two main hens while the pullets were maturing... and now that one pullet in particular is fully matured (a little silkie with semi-stunted growth named Butch)... he has a new favorite. Butch. He mounts her several times a day (and has even begun ignoring the other two hens when they are fanning their behinds in his face) and yesterday when we put a new pullet with the group, he mounted Butch 4 times, Peep twice, and Cruella once in a matter of 20 minutes. I'm sure that was an asserting of dominance there, however, I took a better look at Butch today and most of her feathers on her head are gone and she's getting a bald patch.

Put frankly, is he going to get over his obsession with the new (for lack of better words) pootang and go back to ALL of them and give her a bit of a break?

 

[chinzilla]

Any help would be great

 

[PSJ]

I'm having a problem with an overly aggressive roo also. I took him out of the coop.

 

[chinzilla]

My babies free range all day so that wouldn't help too much haha. Not sure why he suddenly ONLY likes butch. She looks pitiful!

 

[PSJ]

Ooohhh, i don't know then since they free range all day. Poor Butch. She should run! Lol

 

[missnu01]

I have not yet dealt with such an issue, but have you thought about putting her in like a crate or something in the coop, so she isn't separate, but isn't there for him to have at over and over...he'll eventually become interested in the other chickens and possibly not go back to wanting to breed butch all the time...if nothing else it will give butch a break.

 

[donrae]

We really can't give you an answer to that, except to say he might, or he might not. You can't ever say for sure how an animal is going to act, especially in regards to mating. I've had roosters dedicate themselves to a hen for several days then go back to normal, and also had a roo that became a stalker and harrassed hens to the point we ate him. You'll just have to watch him and see which way he goes.

Most of my hens have a small featherless patch on the back of the head, and my roo is quite the gentleman and being older, he's not so aggressive.

 

[Michael Apple]

You could try a back protector/saddle for the hens getting the brunt of it. I had a rooster who was brutal to the hens and would peck them as he mated, bloodying them and injuring one. I saved her and got rid of him.

 

[chinzilla]

He's a good Roo and he doesn't peck while mating... now that she's bald he seems to be uninterested and giving her a break. Not sure if he just got overwhelmed that she was ... you know, a virgin... or what. I hope he'll go back to being a gentleman. He hasn't been as bad of a harasser in the last week or so.

 

[mothernature]

How did he handle being away from the hens? I have one rooster and 21 hens. They all have bald spots on their back, and their feathers are very ragged. He is a great protector, breaks up arguments, calls them in at night, etc. but this constant "rough making" has to stop. I've taken him out of the coup and put him in an adjoining coup. Will his relentless behavior slow down?