Separate roos from hens

[2dancingrats]

My poor hens are incredibly thread-bare. I have 12 hens and 2 roos. The roos are awsome when it comes to free-range time. They have worked out a team approach to protecting the hens.
The problem is, my hens are terribly over-mated Their backs and the backs of their necks are bare. I have used duct-tape hen saddles. This helps some (no more bleeding) but they just can't seem to get their feathers back.
Does anyone house their roosters separately? Can I leave them in the run at night (its pretty secure). Would that give the girls enough of a break to get their beauty rest.
I'm planning to add another dozen hens in a few week. I have them, but they're only about a month old, so I'm keeping them separately for now.
I don't want my new girls to end up as ratty looking as the old ones.
Any suggestions!
Thanks.

 

[dumb_cluck]

Maybe two roos is too many? If you want fertile eggs, you will need at least one, but if you are selling the eggs for consumption, then no roo is necessary at all. JMHO

PS I am raising only pullets... no roos.

 

[CMV]

Lots of folks house their roos separately. If the hens' backs were badly damaged from over breeding then they may never get their feathers back or may not get them back until they go through a molt. You've tried the saddles and had only minimal success? Then a bachelor pad might be in order for the boys. I cannot recommend housing them in the run at night because runs are just not secure enough. Predators have all night to work on breaching a run and will generally be successful at doing so. Chickens are not so active at night, so I don't think that just removing the boys at night will alleviate the problem. The girls need some freedom from molestation during the daylight hours.

I don't keep any male birds anymore. Their bad points far outweigh their benefits as far as I am concerned. I have seen too many of my ladies getting beaten to a bloody pulp by over-zealous suitors to tolerate having any boys. I bent that rule last year in a moment of weakness and nothing good came of it. The end result was that the boys were delicious and the girls are finally all back to being beautiful and stress-free. And I will not keep any male birds anymore period.

Good luck.

 

[KKatknap]

I think your ratio is just a little too high. When you add the next batch of girls, I think you will see great improvement. Until then, you might try giving them some alone time. Maybe a few days in separate enclosures?

 

[2dancingrats]

I know my ratio is too high. One of the roos was supposed to be a hen. He started crowing first, so then we weren't sure the one who was supposed to be a roo was a roo.

Not interested in fertile eggs. Had been told we needed a roo for protection when they free-range. The roos are both great protectors, but not without a price!

As far as the saddles go. Duct tape works great. You just have to keep applying it as it fall off. The problem is it does nothing to protect the "shoulder" part of their wings where you can see the feathers are literally broken off. It also doesn't protect the backs of their heads and necks where the roos like to grab on. These poor girls look absolutely pathetic! Short of creating duct-tape burqas I'm not sure what to do.

If I separate the roos, should I go in and remove them from the main house at dusk when they're all settling in for the night?

Should I let the roos continue to free-range with the hens? Will this give them healing time, or should I keep them totally apart until my girls get their crowning glory back!

Also, how old should my new hens be before they can be introduced to the mix?

 

[Garden Gal]

I am experiencing EXACTLY the same issue and am at my wits end... we are planning on culling one beautiful, beautiful RIR roo tomorrow because he is destroying is gals - and he has 12 all to himself!!! There are five RIR and six BR hens with him, and believe it or not, he definitely prefers the RIR gals so they are taking the brunt. In the last two days it has gotten to the point that one of the gal's back is raw and not only are others trying to peck at her, she is even doing it to herself! These gals are ripping off their saddles as fast as I put them on, and the BlueKote is not helping at all. I picked up some pine tar today and will try that in the AM.

I'm sick over this - he is such a beautiful bird and so respectful of me, but I can't take this any more. I don't have the set up to give him a bachelor pad and don't have the energy or finances right now to to build another structure and yard - we have a very large coop and yard as it is.

Oi... chickens are great when all is well, but when stuff like this comes up, it is sooo stressful and such a bummer.

 

[2dancingrats]

I'm really sorry to hear of the troubles with your roosters. I never dreamed they would suffer so much because of the roosters.
What does the pine tar do? Where do you get it? How do you use it.
I really don't want to cull my roos either. I have a Dominique and an Auracana. The Dominique is a bit more gentle with the hens, but still quite hard handed.

 

[jersy87]

I am kinda similar to you. I have 2 roosters right now and 10 hens. They are alittle bald on their back but not bad. I am in the process of adding more hens as I do not want to get rid of my roosters as they are very good boys. My hen's backs are not as bad as you said yours are. I am also making my pen bigger too.

 

[2dancingrats]

Mine didn't start out foo badly. Mostiy seemed to be a problem for one or two. They actually have a prettly large coop. It's a 10X14 shed. They also have a 10X14 yard and they get to free range daily. I also have hens to add, but want to wait until I decide whether I want to keep both roos. Right now I'm not sure I want either one. They are both beatiful and very healthy but I'm embarrassed to let anyone see their poor wimmin-folk.

 

[Garden Gal]

Quote:
I bought the Pine Tar at the local "feed and seed" store, you could probably find it at a Tractor Supply or similar. It is gooey and supposedly tastes terrible, and discourages the other chickens from pecking the bare spots.

Yesterday was a horrible day... I went out to find one dead hen. Her saddle was off and she had been pecked pretty severly. We culled the roo, but I hated to do so... it wasn't that he was mean or vicious, just preferred too few hens when he had access to 12. I know it is the nature of these animals to peck at each other when the opportunity presents itself, but I HATE that "nature"...

I'm a bit defeated today, but am trying to re-group and move on. This was our first "non-culled" death. The remaining gals seem fine; I took them hardboiled eggs and yogurt today and everyone ate like crazy - but they have always enjoyed their treats!