Should I put her out of Misery??

[lilmouthy]

I have some great news!! I just got rid of 2 of the Roosters just now. I had to choose which one I wanted to keep,so I picked the smallest and the one,who so far,has never flogged any of us.

My neighbor,he's just gotten over being very sick and bed ridden for about a week or so,stopped by. I told him about all my chicken problems,and he said he could take 2 of my Roosters. DH is going to kill me for getting rid of 2 perfectly good chickens that could have went into our freezer,but I don't care.

Isn't it odd how things work out? I NEVER get company,being way out here and of all days for him to show up,he choose today. Here I was trying to come up with a plan to get those monsters out of here,and the plan shows right up to my door. I felt bad for my neighbor though. He's an older Gentleman,retired,and I know he was still weak from his sickness,but boy you should have seen him go after those Roosters. He's quicker than I am. It wore him out though...he was pouring sweat by the time we(he LOL)caught both of them.

I'm going to keep a close eye on this other Rooster. If he doesn't behave,I'll do what some one suggested and kill him and keep him in a cooler with ice till I can get a way to freeze them.

Hopefully my hen will be OK. I'll give it a couple days and see how she does.

Thanks for all the advice!!

 

[chicktwit]

There are gentle roos out there if this one doesn't work out. I just had to send some overly amorous buggers to freezer camp. Sure is a whole lot quieter out ther now. Maybe he'll settle down but if he starts going after you or your family he should really go to camp. Good luck. How's she doing? You could put blu-kote on the wounds. It's antiseptic & the color keeps other hens from pecking. Unfortunately, if it looks like she's suffering a too much she may need to be put down. I hope she gets better.

 

[Bizzybirdy]

Years ago I had three roosters continuously mate a young hen, over and over, and kill her. Now any that display that behavior or are not "polite" to my hens are immediately removed from the flock.

Hopefully your hen is just injured and will recuperate. Keep her separate until she heals. Great you got rid of the culprits!

 

[gabby3535]

Can you at least bring your poor injured hen inside?
She need some special care...........possibly hand feeding, and water with a dropper.
Also, the flies are going to be getting to her wounds if she's left outside like that............

 

[mikesbigroo]

if there that mean who cares about freezer bags, it's called feeding wild life, kill em and put em some where that something else can dine on, hurt a hen, children scared, roo is a goner in my books, why wait, use your head

 

[lilmouthy]

Mikesbigroo...I see what you are saying,but,we just can't do that here. My husband and children are Native American and we are trying to teach our Children "The Old Ways" If you are not going to eat it,you do NOT kill it. My 9 year old son has a BB Gun and he was taught from day one,you shoot it,you eat it. He knows if he shoots a bird or whatever,that WILL be his dinner that night. So nope,can't just kill something and throw it away.

So...on to some good news. My hen seems to be doing better. I kept her locked up in the pen all day yesterday,and when it was time for the rest of the flock to come inside to Roost,I got my Extra Large Dog House,filled it full of Hay from the Horse and put her in it,then pushed it up against the fence,so the opening was closed off. Well this morning after every one left the pen,I took the top off the dog house and went to pick her up to set her on the grass and she tried standing on her own. I let go of her and she stood for a few seconds. She was wobbly,but still,I think she's doing better.

More Good news!! This Rooster I kept,is such a Gentleman to the ladies now. Yesterday,he found some food and made this really strange sound over and over until one of my hens came over. He picked it up in his beak and gave it to her. Then a bit later,he got in front of one of my hens,and picked up one of his feet and started doing some kind of dance in front of her. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Never seen a chicken do that. And it was sooo quiet here yesterday afternoon. No hens yelling. He left them all alone. They all came out from under the shed and started walking around. I think they are all relieved that the other 2 are gone.

It's still a waiting game with my hen,so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed,but she seems to be a bit better today.

Thanks again every one!!

 

[jenjscott]

Well, it sounds like you kept the right rooster.

 

[SallyF]

Yes, sounds like you have a polite rooster. He's doing what roosters are supposed to do. The clucking sound is to attract hens and show them that he's found food for them. The dance you refer to is a mating dance, to show them that he's interested. Generally the hen would squat to give him permission to mount.

A lot of these are instinctive behaviors which have been lost in the breeding programs to produce quick-maturing meat birds and heavy laying hens. You more often see them among wild birds. Glad you were able to get rid of the two bad boys in a humane way.

 

[countrygirl4513]

I slaughtered 3 bad roos 2 wks back. They are cooling in the freezer now. They were terrorizing my hens to large a ratio 5-20 Now I've got 1 bantam roo(he's the boss) and 1 buff cochin roo( 2nd in command) roo to hen ratio is 1-20 for my standard size girls. Sorta a large gap there but it is allowing my girls that need healing to do so. Some had no feathers on their backs at all due to the excessive mating.
One of my roos was 3 yrs old and mean as a copperhead. I'd given him a long time to tame down some but he met the cookpot instead. You gotta protect your family and your hens. Sometimes that means culling. Glad things are looking better for your flock.

Edited for non-family friendly expression.​

 

[speckledhen]

Folks, in several posts in this thread, there have been numerous references to a crude expression that is not family fare. Please be more tactful with your words!