Should I cull them.

[quintinp]

I have 4 barred rock/black sex link chickens, they are adolescents. I am super mad at them right now. They gave my Rhode Island Red Rosie a black eye. She is now scared of anything that touches her, I keep her in the house at night, but during the day when I am gone I put her out, well today is the second day I have done it, and they pecked her in the eye as soon as I put her in the coop. She used to be with them 24/7 when they were chicks but I took her from them, now they don't wanna be her friend anymore. I got so mad at those chickens that they did that. Am I really over reacting, but Rosie is my house/outside chicken. I love her A lot, and to see her in pain makes me wanna kill those chickens out of cold blood, I never wanted the black sex link/ barred rock chicks in the first place. About 2/3 of the way through the hatch, I found out my Barred rock rooster was a black sex link. And of the 4 chickens 3 of them are roosters, I am willing to keep the hen, just because she is will be a layer. But I am really wanting to kill the others. I think I have a picture of them.

These pictures are of Rosie. I am in Love with this chicken.

 

[MetalSmitten]

it's really up to you what you do with them... as adolescent DPs, you won't get much meat off them though. you could try selling them, craigslist or whatever.

chickens do naturally peck each other to establish their pecking order, though. it's just something that's gonna happen. chickens are also happier in a flock, they don't usually like being alone. so keep that in mind for rosie; she'll either have to be able to stand up for herself in a flock, or be lonely.

 

[foxypoproxy]

Have you tried separating these hens?
You should try taking the perpetrators out of the coop for a few days, when you put them back they will be put on the bottom of the pecking order.
They have to go through the integration process all over again and they are treated as the "new kids" in school.

 

[mstricer]

Are you sure Rosie isn't a Boy. I don't know much about sex links but that baby has a nice comb developing and what appears to be wattles growing. Just a thought. She looks young, how old are they

 

[SteveBaz]

Things happen at times that make you want to react one way and when the red in your face goes away you start thinking a different way. I give thought to those decisions for 24 hours. You could do a lot of things like give them away to a needy family or sell on CL or Local 4H, Or accept that if you keep one in the house the girls are going to be jealous of her and no she is not in their click. You could buy some younger girls that will respect her and not have the age on her to threaten or do damage. You could spend a ton of time with her and them and be referee until they get it and can do it with treats. Accept from time to time they are going to kick the crap out of her and you need to make a decision as to how to deal with favorites between the girls. Just make her a house chicken in diapers and thats it.

 

[Fred's Hens]

If you keep one of the bird "in the house at night" the rest do not see him (her) as a flock mate. Since you obviously favor the one bird over the others and keep it separated for great periods of time, I suspect, this is an integration issue. This is pure chicken politics at its normal and oft times cruel best.

I'd also be concerned that your favorite is going to crow, not lay eggs. Those are some major wattles and large comb for what looks to be a 12-13 week old?
Also agree that he isn't a sex link, but favors more the production red, not that this matters much.

 

[chickee]

Quote:
x2 That would explain why Rosie is attacked when put back in with the other roosters. Besides the good sized, red wattles and comb, I think I see pointed hackle (neck) feathers.

I have never had adult chickens peck the eyes of youngsters that are being introduced into a flock. You have too many roosters for the amount of hens you have. You need to keep one rooster and get rid of the rest. looks like maybe you should be keeping Rosie (who looks to be a rooster) and your one sex link hen

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Quote:
x2 That would explain why Rosie is attacked when put back in with the other roosters. Besides the good sized, red wattles and comb, I think I see pointed hackle (neck) feathers.

I have never had adult chickens peck the eyes of youngsters that are being introduced into a flock. You have too many roosters for the amount of hens you have. You need to keep one rooster and get rid of the rest. looks like maybe you should be keeping Rosie (who looks to be a rooster) and your one sex link hen

I think several people on another thread by the OP also said that Rosie is probably a boy and I agree. I agree with everything the poster I quoted said. Rosie is probably a boy and the 3 other boys are letting him know that he is lower on the pecking order than them.

 

[quintinp]

From a lot of your expert opinions, you all are saying that my Production Red Rosie might be a Roscoe, but in another thread most said that Rose/Roscoe was a girl. I don't know what to really think, the saddle feathers are round, and not very long, and the hackle feathers have an almost invisible feather outline around the point of the feathers, I think you guys know what I mean. I don't know for sure whether Rosie is a hen or Rooster. For now, "she" is Rosie, but that may change later. I am going to try Craigslist here pretty soon though. I hope someone will take them all. I now have her separated with a different chicken. They are doing Ok. I gave them some caramelized onions a minute ago from some fajitas. They loved them too.

 

[Davian]

Rosie definitely looks like "Roscoe" as another noted.