Rooters favorite hens

[Chelseyb123]

So I have a big 3yr wyandotte an two of his 9month old sons an they use to favorite my little 9month old leghorn. They mated with her so much her back went bare an i brought her inside because its Maine an freezing. All of her feathers are almost back now. But now that she's been inside for almost a month my roosters have moved on to my rir the next smallest breed I have compared to my other wyandotte Sussex an asturalop. Don't get me wrong these two girls fight the little ones away but my poor Rosie is losing feathers on the joints of her wings an back.. I love my roosters but why are they always going for the smaller ones. So annoying! ! Spring can't come soon enough so the snow can melt an they can free range. It seemed like when they could free range I had less missing feathers on my girls. My 3yr too has huge spurs an that's some of the problem because the other two barely have any. I wanna remove them but don't know exactly how? An what else can I do?

 

[wamtazlady]

How many hens do you have? For 3 roosters you should have no less than 30 hens, otherwise you risk them over mating with their favorites. Even with 10 hens per rooster it seems that roosters have favorites. The favorites are often the hens that are low in the pecking order as they are more submissive.

If you can set up a separate area for the roosters, that would help a lot. If you have too many roosters rehoming the extras would help. Craigslist is a good way to give away roosters. Last year I sold 5 pullets cheaply but only if the new owner took a rooster too. You can also get some chicken saddles. This is a cloth apron type item that you put on the hen so the roosters don't destroy her feathers.

 

[keesmom]

Do you really need all 3 males? Given that they are wearing the feathers off your hens it doesn't seem like it. While you are waiting for spring so they can free range again, it will also bring an increase in mating activity.

Maybe it's time to think about reducing the number of males in your flock. If you absolutely can't part with them consider locking them up in a separate bachelor pad. Then those poor hens can have some peace.

 

[Korte38]

I have read that roosters favorite the
lower members of the pecking order

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is highly unlikely the problem is the older rooster's spurs. Look at the legs and feet. Pay attention to the claws as well as the spurs. The problem is probably coming from the immature cockerels claws instead of the rooster's spurs. Once a hen is barebacked the spurs can possibly cut her during mating if the rooster has bad technique or if the hen fights him during the mating act, but generally the only reason you need to remove a rooster's spurs is if they are growing in a way that he can't walk or they are curling around and growing into his legs. It's really rare but some hens can have that kind of problems with their spurs also.

I don't know what your set-up looks like or how many total chickens you have but I think you have three problems. I don't believe in that magic number of 10 hens per rooster solving all problems. I've seen where a smaller ratio works out great too many times to believe in that kind of magic. And I've seen where you still have problems with a larger ratio. Still, I always suggest that you only keep enough roosters to meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems with more roosters, just that problems are more likely the more roosters you have with the flock. I don't know your goals or why you want all those males but either getting rid of some or isolating some in a bachelor pad is probably a great idea.

A second problem is room. You are right, if they are able to free range these types of behavioral problems are usually a lot less likely or less severe. You have to deal with your Maine winters as well as your great New England summers. I don't know how much room you have but it is highly unlikely throwing a bunch more hens into a small space will solve this problem and will likely lead to other problems caused by overcrowding.

I think the third problem is that you don't have three roosters, you have a rooster and two cockerels. The cockerels hormones are urging them on to be very active and aggressive. The hens and maybe pullets don't respect those bratty adolescents enough to submit to them so the boys are rough. The mature rooster probably isn't rough because he has his hormones more under control. The hens respect him and don't fight him. This does not mean the problems go away when those young brats mature, there are still the other issues. You could see other issues with the mature rooster and these cockerels as they get closer to maturity, especially confined in a small space.

They are probably not going for the smaller hens and pullets, they are probably going for the most submissive. The older or more dominant hens are more likely to be subjective about who they allow to mate. A dominant hen will sometimes beat up on an immature cockerel, even if he is bigger. I find that size isn't all that important, it's more the maturity level and spirit in the individual chicken. My mature hens often run to the dominant rooster when a cockerel starts to pester them and let him deal with junior, but pullets and the less dominant hens often don't.

My recommendation is still going to be the same as most others, especially in winter when space is limited. Reduce the number of males with your flock. Either get rid of them or pen them up so they can't get to the hens and pullets.

 

[Chelseyb123]

Yeah Rosie is so submissive. Just hold your hand out an she lays down. I only have seven hens one pullet chick inside and going to get one or two more wyandotte pullets. I have trid getting rid of them since I was tricked when I got them i had five of my roos sons. Culled one for experience and made my dogs treats. Either way ill try an get rid of two keep the father since he'll be four soon and one of his sons for when the father passes so I can keep hatching my own eggs. Ill look into the apron an try to come up with something to separate but since my yard is all ice an frozen still i really can't do much. I was thinking of separate coops an pens on different parts of my back yard for them but that would probably be a headache in the winter.

 

[Chelseyb123]

I have a decent size back yard all fenced in with trees they hangout under in warn weather. their coop is four or five ft wide and about 20ft long and five ft tall. The pen attached that they come out during the day is roughly 30×40ft I am redoing their coop once warmer weather hits Id like a more square coop. I've tried an tried rehoming ill try again but its hard here I've found in maine. I really only want one extra roo for when the father dies. And I do want to have a good ratio of hens. I don't know.. I guess I have a lot of thinking to do...

 

[Korte38]

It's a tough situation if you aren't willing to eat the roos. I have two that hatched in Halloween, I offered them for free but looks like we will end up eating them. They had a good life and I can't have them stressing out my flock.

I have a decent size back yard all fenced in with trees they hangout under in warn weather. their coop is four or five ft wide and about 20ft long and five ft tall. The pen attached that they come out during the day is roughly 30×40ft I am redoing their coop once warmer weather hits Id like a more square coop. I've tried an tried rehoming ill try again but its hard here I've found in maine. I really only want one extra roo for when the father dies. And I do want to have a good ratio of hens. I don't know.. I guess I have a lot of thinking to do...

 

[Chelseyb123]

Yeah if I did have to cull one. It would be the one I just posted on craigslist today. Im not attached to it but I've had it so long now I couldn't eat it. For my dogs on the other hand I can make them chicken jerky they love it ! So it wouldn't get wasted. And for the cockeler I have inside I've been trying to rehome with that leghorn I brought inside for a month now an no takers. Im hoping my sister will take her because she doesn't have roosters an will never have them. But he is very nice an friendly. If I can't rehome I was going to make him his own space.. He doesn't get a long with the other males because of his comb an wattle size they always go for them. that's why his inside. Ill figure something out.

 

[Chullicken]

I have a decent size back yard all fenced in with trees they hang out under in warm weather. their coop is four or five ft wide and about 20ft long and five ft tall. The pen attached that they come out during the day is roughly 30×40ft I am redoing their coop once warmer weather hits Id like a more square coop. I've tried an tried rehoming ill try again but its hard here I've found in Maine. I really only want one extra roo for when the father dies. And I do want to have a good ratio of hens. I don't know.. I guess I have a lot of thinking to do...

Same issue in NH, probably everywhere. Roosters are a dime a dozen and very hard to get rid of even for soup.