Two Chickens one roo and a hen

[beckychick]

Will my one roo be too much for my hen? They're almost 20 weeks old. I have a feeling he might be too aggressive for her but then yesterday I locked him up and she kept trying to get to him. But then sometimes he just pecks at her for no reason and he always wants to hog all the food. Even if I try to give some to just her, she will attempt to hide it from him by turning away and then he eventually will see it and take it. I seperated them yesterday just to make sure she wasn't hungry, but she didn't eat and tried to get back to him....what to do?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chickens are social animals by nature. If you leave one by itself, it is misearable. They need the companionship of other chickens. it sounds like you do not have a good rooster that takes good care of his flock, but with only one hen and one rooster, you do not have a really normal situation. He might do better with more hens. He is the dominant one in the small flock and his peckingis a way of showing his dominance. As long as he is not drawing blood with hsi pecks, it is not that unusual behavior. And he is young. He might grow out of it.

The danger you have is the possiblility of a bare backed hen. Sometimes when a rooster mates with a hen, he tears off some of her feathers, either at the back of her head with his beak, which usually is not a real problem, but also with his spurs on her back. If he rips off the feathers on her back, his spurs can then tear her skin, seriously injuring her, possibly fatally.

This does not happen all the time. It depends on the size of the chickens (a big rooster with a smaller hen is more of a danger), how long the rooster's spurs are, how rough he is, and how often he mates with her. With only one hen with one rooster, overmating is a real possibility but it is not a sure thing. Some people have one rooster and one hen and do not have this problem. There was a recent post where someone had one rooster with eighteen hens and some were barebacked. Obviously the more hens around the better the situation, but there is no magic number.

If a hen loses a feather now and then during mating, no big deal. If bare spots start to develop, it has become serious and you need to do something. You can get a saddle for the hen that protects her from the rooster's spurs. You can trim the rooster's spurs so they are not as sharp. You could get more hens. But with only one rooster and one hen, separating them would not be a good situation.

 

[Buzzy]

They need to be together. This is chicken love.

He'll become a better gentleman when he gets older. Once they're mating he'll share food with her and stop pecking. He will find tidbits and drop them for her, let her take food out of his beak and generally look out for her.

That's the good part - bad part is she will get barebacked and will need some protection. 1 to 1 just isn't a good chicken ratio when it comes to sex.

 

[beckychick]

thanks for the responses...i will try to look for a couple more hens. It was much easier around Easter.

 

[PippyChicken]

Yup they'll be fine!