Should we eat him or see if his behaviour improves?

[ScotianChick]

My five month old rooster Vincent has a vendetta against my 15 month old Silver Laced Wyandottes. My two RIRs seems to hold their own against him but he seems to be in a constant power struggle with my Queen Bee, Arlene. Not only that, his mission seems to be to beat the living crap out of two of my SLWs. I left for a day/night this past weekend and when I saw one of my SLWs today, her face, comb, and wattles were so bloody she could barely breathe from her nose. All of the feathers that had just regrown from our previous rooster overmating seem to have been torn out again. He chases them and kicks them and even if Zoe squats, he doesn't seem to know how to mount her because he's so all over the place from chasing her.

My husband says we should eat him but I'm not sure. He behaves with me in general and doesn't do this to any of the other hens. Today when I caught him beating up my other SLW Go-Go, I gave him a little kick and chased him away. Can I correct his behaviour or should I make him into soup and go roosterless once more.

 

[Frost Homestead]

I would just eat him if he's causing that much damage to the hens.

 

[fshinggrl]

Eat him. Sorry... no one treats hens like that and gets away with it.

 

[CatUT]

That kind of behavior is why I got rid of my roo and my friend got rid of some of her hens.

 

[ScotianChick]

I discovered that I was mistaken. The girl with the bloody wattles etc was not Zoe but the queen bee. Seems she finally was beat in the power struggle while I wasn't home. Unfortunately he does the exact same thing to my girl Go-Go. I wanted to see what exactly his goal was and watched him as he chased her. He finally got her in a mating position but just stood on her and grabbed her comb and stuff. He knows what to do, he mates the pullets normally... but these SLWs he doesn't. WTH?

 

[Noymira]

I would probably eat him, roosters are a dime a dozen, good laying hens take a lot of work and feed.

I'm sorry, you should be able to find a roo who will treat all your ladies nicely.

 

[SarahBeth9394]

Vincents new name would be dinner in my cook book.

 

[Kitty Cat]

I would just eat him. The more stress he causes to your hens the less likely they are to lay. If their so busy trying to heal themselves eventually their bodies will be unable to lay and heal and you will no longer get any eggs. Besides there are plenty of roosters out there and plenty of good ones. Shop around and see what you can find. Worst comes to worse you eat him to or sell him.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are too many good chickens out there to put up with a bad one, male or female.

At five months old, he is an adolescent learning his way in the world. There is a chance he might outgrow it, but there is also a chance he will not. Him causing physical damage can turn some of the others into cannibals when they see blood.

What I think is happening is that he is maturing and trying to become the grown-up, flock-dominating, flock master. His hormones are running pretty wild. He's just a teenager. But the mature hens want nothing to do with him taking over. Mature hens often want a rooster that is skilled in the ways of the world, that treat them right by finding food for them and letting them have the really nice tidbits. They want a rooster that will protect them and watch out for predators, a rooster that will break up fights among the hens. A rooster that brings peace and tranquility to the flock. A teenager high on hormones does not fit that description.

If you do want to keep him, you might try keeping him in a separate pen for a couple of months so he can mature. I kind of suspect that the SLW's are not accepting his flock dominance since he is the only rooster and is so immature. So they are resisting him. If he is more mature, they may accept him and quit resisting. They are probably jealous of their flock dominant role and don't want to lose that either.

I can't make your decision for you. In the past, I've gotten rid of the one hen that was having the issues and peace and tranquility returned to the flock. The rooster had no problems with any of the other hens. I've also tried that at times and it did not work. Each chicken has its own personality and each flock has its own dynamics. Changing out one chicken can change the whole flocks dynamics. And changing the pecking order can have really weird consequences. I don't have an easy sure-fired answer for you.

It is not always an easy decision and it does not always turn out the way you would expect. I wish you luck whichever way you go.