Should I get rid of him?????

momma's chickens · Aug 10, 2008

I have a ButterCup Roo who is pretty friendly towards us, but he has picked all of the feathers out of my Austrolop neck so bad that she is bleeding. Even when they are free ranging he chases her and picks her neck feathers. He does not even try to mate her he just wants to bloody her neck. I am afraid if not her, he will do this to another hen. I am really having to doctor her neck, it doesn't look good. He is the king of 18 hens so he has plenty of girls and he is definitely mating them so I don't understand. His favorite, EE, has a few back feathers missing but that is understandable, this neck thing is on the verge of cannibalism if you ask me.

olp_63 · Aug 10, 2008

wow, i'm not sure how to fix it. but if you want to keep him could you separate him somehow? maybe put him in a different enclosure with a few hens to keep him company?

momma's chickens · Aug 10, 2008

I have him in a seperate cage right now and he is pretty ticked off, he honest to goodness was glaring at me a little while ago, helped when I petted him. I never really wanted a rooster to begin with although it is okay, he was suppose to be a pullet.

momma's chickens · Aug 10, 2008

He is still out in the cage in the shop and while he seems not happy, he is not miserable either. The hen he ran off came home today and her neck is awful, cleaned it up again the best I could and isolate her in the chicken coop so she could see the other chickens but they can't pick on her already damaged neck. I am not sure what to do because this is the hen that also always pecks holes in her own eggs so I am not sure whether to keep them both, get rid of one or get rid of both. I already have a new home for the rooster, but not sure whether to part with him. Decisions, decisions. I just wish I knew if he will continue to do this with the hens or is just this one hen.

CarriBrown · Aug 10, 2008

What are you feeding your birds? They may need their diet changed if they are eating feathers and eggs.
Also, how many birds do you have and what sized area are they in?

chickenlips1954 · Aug 10, 2008

I would re-home the hen and keep the roo.

momma's chickens · Aug 10, 2008

HI, they get chick start, laying pellets both because I have a few different ages out there. They have free access to oyster shell and they get to free range about five hours every evening over the size of a two acre area. They also get all of our food scraps and lots of veggies. The particular hen has pecked her egg for about six months, she does not eat the egg just pecks a small hole in the bottom, I have no idea why.

The run is 20 by 8 size attached to the coop which is 7 by 10. That is 230 square feet for 19 chickens which should be big enough.

I have no idea, the hen looks really bad and won't open her eyes so I may have to cull her before this is over and the rooster is leaving tomorrow. I have had several roosters over the years and I can't stand for this.

I think he may be a racist rooster because she is the only black chicken out there! Whatever the case I have decided that he is leaving.

Jenlyn9483 · Aug 10, 2008

I would say go ahead and process her and get her out of her misery. He may be sensing that this hen is not completely healthy or has something wrong with her that may no be advertanly obvious to you. Chickens are animals that stick to the law of nature to weed out the sick and weak for the greater good of the flock..If she is the only one this is happening to then I wouldn't chock it up to him being a bad guy right off the bat. I hope This is helpful information for your cosideration. I've never really heard any stories of aggresive buttercups, the stories I have heard are of them being very indearing pets.

momma's chickens · Aug 10, 2008

Jenlyn, thank you for your opinion. I have her in the cage now and he is back with the flock. He is doing well, I am not sure if he will be staying because I am still pretty irritated about it, but you may be right, they may be something wrong with her that I don't see. I will watch him for about a week and see how it goes.

MarylandChick · Aug 10, 2008

My roo turned on two of my hens. It was aweful. I then got chicken saddles/aprons for the hens which helped. But the roo was just after them. He's a bot too big a breed for them, plus he's a crazed sex machine and he isn't gentle. I them tried putting a bit of Tobasco sause on the back of the chickens necks. It was pretty funney the first time he bit one's neck and tasted that. He backed off real fast but after a week he didn't care anymore and went after her again.

When I put more perches high up in the chicken run and coop the two hens ended up spending most of their time up there. Their bodies healed and they ate and drank enough but it was a shame to see they didn't have the same freedom the rest did.

Whenever I let the chickens free range one of them would run towards me anytime the rooster came near. I started feeling like I was the sex crimes police, like Law and Order SVU! Anytime I'm around and I see the rooster chasing, picking on or mating too roughly I grab my rake and break it up.

Anyways, today I gave away the smaller of the two hens who was getting picked on.

The other I am too attached to. She hides behind me when ever the rooster is around. How cute is that!