Rough roo...help??

[mangled]

This is my EE roo, Senge:

I love him dearly, but he's awful with the girls.

We have 19 girls and 2 roos out with them. One is my BO roo, Brutus, and the other, my Senge. My 2 SLW roos languish in the bachelor's run.

Brutus is the alpha male. The girls get the priviledge of his little dance, they submit, and Brutus is able to do his thing with very few ruffled feathers.

Senge gets NO respect, the girls don't submit, and he basically attacks them and powers them down. When he's done, most of the higher-up hens run him off and give him the devil for it.

My EE hen is the lowest of my hens, and therefore Senge's favorite. She also will not submit to him, but he is at her CONSTANTLY. She's really looking rough, especially over the past couple days. As of this morning, she's confined to a run with my other lower hens so no pecking occurs.

So, my husband wants to cull him. I fear re-homing him would only spread his roughness onto other hens. I tried putting him in with the other 2 penned roos this morning and barely seperated them without bloodshed.

So, my ultimate question is: what to do with a rough roo? There's no way of breaking him, right? And re-homing him just makes him someone else's problem, so, anyone got any ideas? Or is it the stewpot for him?

Oh, and BTW - even though I am fond of him, he's sweet to me, I wouldn't have trouble culling him. I'd just have to have my husband do the deed.

Thanks-
Em

 

[wynedot55]

you can either put him in a bachlor pen.or put him in the stew pot.the choice is yours.

 

[redneck]

I had a roo like that. I eventually had to make chicken and dressing.

 

[mangled]

I was afraid of that.

I was hoping to keep him, for more EEs, but I can't have him beating up on my girls.

Thanks-
Em

 

[hoosierhen]

My RIR roo is also very aggressive. My hens have bite marks on the backs of their combs. I like having a roo, but am thinking he is not the best choice. I have considered a BO, or even a bantam breed.

 

[mangled]

Well, my BO roo is very easy with the girls. Speaking from my own experience only, I would recommend a BO roo.

He does his little foot stomp, wing down dance, and the girls squat down. There's no roughness about it. He's very well mannered with people as well. He does hate the dog, though. Our Boxer is terrified of him.

My little EE, Senge is sweet, he'll let himself be picked up for scratches, he's fine with us, but man, he's terrible to the girls.

My husband called from work and asked what decision I had made, and I told him we would most likely have to cull him, and he said, okay, so his new name is Lunch.

Anyway - thanks for all the help.
Em

 

[fivebigreds]

You could try triming the sharp point of his top beak , maybe that would slow him down.