Roosters wreaking havoc on our hens...what do I do?

[juststruttin]

We have 35 chickens, 4 roosters and 31 hens. They are all about 9-10 months old. This winter we noticed our hens missing lots of feathers. Right now we have 2 roosters that are torturing their poor hens. I want to get rid of those 2 roosters but DH is unsure. Most of their back feathers are gone as well as the top of their wings and heads. The other two roosters get on the hens but aren't as brutal as the others. Here are my questions:
-Do you have any other suggestions for fixing this?
-If we get rid of the 2 will we have drama in the coop?
-Is there anything we can do to support those hens with so many missing feathers?
- Anything else you can think of that may be causing this?

They have had access to go outside all winter but they hate the snow so they spent a lot of time in the coop. Now that it is nice they have been outside a lot more. Also, since it got so brutally cold we have some chickens with frostbite on their combs, very small little black spots here and there. Will this go away? Anything we can do to help this?

Thanks for all the help. This is our first flock.
Codie-lyn

From the photos, your hens are balding because the roosters stand on the backs and wings to mount them.

I do not believe your flock is picking on each other. Birds that picked on are bald on their heads, necks and rumps, not their backs.

You can reduce the Rooster to hen ratio, but 4 to 31 is not a high ratio. If you are hatching eggs, I would not recommend reducing roosters because fertility will drop significantly. If you are not hatching eggs then I would recommend re-homing a couple for a more peaceful flock.

However, the favorite hens will still likely remain bald since they are the favorite hens. I currently have 9 hens in with 2 roosters and only 1 hen is balding. I moved her to another flock with a different roosters to see if that will help and give the feathers a chance to grow back in.

You most likely have some hens that are bald and others that are seemingly untouched. Roosters do have their favorites. I would get saddles for the bald hens to allow their feathers to grow in.

You can also get a Dremel and sand down the sharp points of the roosters spurs. It will not help the baldness, but if hens are bald the chance of getting scrapped or punctured by the spur increases. There are people on the BUY/Sell/Trade section that make and sell hen saddles.

 

[aart]

would black dye work? What exactly does the dye do? We've got the roosters apart now. I've been putting animal scents ointment on them from Young Living and it seems to be helping and I'm starting to see some regrowth on a few hens.

Chickens are attracted to red, especially blood red and meat red. They like to eat stuff that color, even if it is a living flockmate. Dyes can change that color and sometimes distract them.

I've always wondered why their combs/wattles are not constant targets then.....and red leg bands?


I've ound that sometimes the blukote attracts just as much attention as the blood, especially on a light colored bird,
even from the bird that's wearing it-they try to preen if off.

 

[juststruttin]

I've always wondered why their combs/wattles are not constant targets then.....and red leg bands?


I've ound that sometimes the blukote attracts just as much attention as the blood, especially on a light colored bird,
even from the bird that's wearing it-they try to preen if off.

Blue Koe tastes bad. It gets absorbed into the skin and feather follicles and will deter picking. Be warned, it will stain your birds feathers sometimes until their next molt. I sometimes use it to identify birds.

BK is a good product to use on open sores to deter picking, but as mentioned above does not work on feathers unless you want a purple bird. I have had birds severely injured by dogs that were able to be put back in the flock covered in blue kote without incident.

On that note, if your bird is injured, it is best to keep them in the flock if possible. If you separate them, reintroducing them can be a challenge and they never fully recover their original bond. I try everything in my arsenal to keep my flock together when possible.

For bald spots, that are not open sores, you can pick up a product called No-pick. It too will help reduce picking because after one pick, the culprit is turned off. Birds pick because they like eathing the little piece of flesh at the end of the feather folicle. If that folicle tastes bad, they will stop.

The only problem with no-pick is that it has to be re-applied every day because it wears off. You will need to use it daily until the pin feathers have grown in completely. Pin feathers are an attractive nuisance and birds will pluck them out as fast as they grown in.

There is a dog product called Dog-Gone that I have been meaning to try but haven't. I am having a picking issue right now among my Polish hens. I moved the Polish out of the general flock into their own pen for breeding season so I will see if the picking stops. If not, I think I will give Dog-Gone a try. Applying No-Pick every day is too difficult because catching the hens stresses out the roosters.

On another forum someone suggested using Icmathol for picked areas. Tried it... OMG what a disaster! Birds swelled up. If you read about Icmathal on another forum please do not use that recommendation. Bird is fine now, but boy did I feel bad.