Serious sign of overbreeding or is my hen sick???

[FirstLadiesClub]

We have 7 hens and 1 rooster all a year old. We knew we had a problem with our rooster overbreeding bc a few girls were losing feathers from where he mounts them. We have 3 more chickens on the way but I'm afraid we may be too late.

Around 6pm I went out to water my chickens for the night and noticed that one of my brown leghorns was in a corner of the run and did not come running with the others when I came inside. She was standing up but seemed to be very uncomfortable. She has a bit of dried poop on her feathers but we checked her vent and all was clear.

We decided to separate her for a little while to get a better look at her when we put her into a separate run she began to walk around more but would not touch any water, food, or even Greek yogurt which is usually their absolute favorite. I put on a glove and checked to see if she was egg bound but all seems fine.

We thought maybe she just felt very very stressed around the rooster because she has a lot of feathers missing it seems as though she has been one of his main targets. We decided to put her back into the run bc we do not think she is sick and separate our rooster from the flock hoping she will calm down.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what this may be??? Are we doing the right thing??? I have absolutely no clue what could be wrong and feel so guilty bc we put her in this situation.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CMV]

Your roo is a huge PITA to all his girls at the moment. He is young, randy, inexperienced,overzealous, and likely rough. I think a little separation of your roo for a little bit would not be a bad thing. A temporary bachelor pad for him might be a welcome relief for the girls.

There is nothing worse than a young roo. I have put many young roos in the stewpot because I could not put up with their crap until they outgrew their hormones.

 

[FirstLadiesClub]

I really do appreciate the response! She finally passed a soft shell egg this morning which I'm hoping was the issue.

Roo is still going to get a much needed break and hopefully we can get a few more girls in there to avoid the stew point.

 

[CMV]

Soft-shelled eggs are miserable to pass for hens. There is no hard surface for the body to push against, so it is very difficult to move them through the reproductive tract. Are you offering free choice oyster shells to keep the eggshells strong? If not, you should start. An occasional soft-shelled egg is not much to worry about. They are usually just a glitch in the plumbing.

Good luck.