Mara Lee
Hatching
Short version: Two of my chickens, a hen and a rooster, who have gotten along just fine for the last 7 months, have just recently started constantly and viciously attacking each other. I don't mean the minor pecks and scuffles, I mean the puffing, jumping, tearing at each other with claws, pecking at the head and drawing blood, biting onto and holding the neck... I have had to separate them because I am afraid one will lose an eye or worse. It doesn't seem to be instigated by one more that the other - it just seems to be a mutual thing - when they see each other, they both puff up and go at it. If I had to identify one that seems more intent on fighting that the other, it would be the hen. Any ideas to what the reason for this could be, and what I should do?
Long version: I live in Alaska, and two years ago got my first hens - three beautiful, fluffy little Silkies I rescued from a student who had to give them up. They all went broody in the spring, and I had built a large coop, so we got ahold of three fertilized eggs, and my little girls hatched three big, beautiful hens (all three from a Welsummer rooster and three different moms, probably RI Red, Buff O, and Barred Rock). All six hens were doing great, until last spring an ermine (like a tiny weasel) got into the coop and killed all three of my Silkies
So when the same student said she had another Silkie she needed to re-home last summer, I said yes! But this Silkie is a rooster. I am allowed to keep roosters in my neck of the woods, so I figured I would give it a try. He was not easily accepted, but after about a month of him living in a sectioned off area of the coop, they begrudgingly accepted him. We have had him for 8 months now. He still gets pecked quite a bit, so it's clear he hasn't climbed to the top of the pecking order (he's much smaller than the hens). In fact, it has seemed that he has made his way up to second in command, or maybe tied for second, with my girl Bella refusing to give up her position on the throne. The smallest of the three hens, Dora, had always seemed to be at the bottom of the pecking order, and was the first to accept the rooster, and until this week, seemed to be on the best terms with him. In fact, she is the only one of the hens I have actually witnessed being "mounted" by the rooster. Which brings me to why I am confused about their sudden, violent fighting. Is there any chance that he has been "overusing" her and she is fed up with it? That's the only thing I can think of.
Any advice as to what I should do? I keep thinking I should just let them fight it out, but once they start it is painful to sit back and watch. Right now I am leaning toward keeping them separated for a while longer and hoping this blows over. Also I am wondering if I need more hens, as I know only three hens to one rooster isn't ideal. But as a Silkie, he is small and relatively harmless. These fights are the most violent I have ever seen him. He lets me pick him up and carry him around, and sits in my lap and eats out of my hand. He's very chill. He is definitely the loser in these battles with the hen. I really feel like she might kill him if I let them keep fighting.
Any help would be much appreciated. I have only had chickens for two years, and any knowledge I have comes almost exclusively from this website. But I am definitely at a loss right now.
Long version: I live in Alaska, and two years ago got my first hens - three beautiful, fluffy little Silkies I rescued from a student who had to give them up. They all went broody in the spring, and I had built a large coop, so we got ahold of three fertilized eggs, and my little girls hatched three big, beautiful hens (all three from a Welsummer rooster and three different moms, probably RI Red, Buff O, and Barred Rock). All six hens were doing great, until last spring an ermine (like a tiny weasel) got into the coop and killed all three of my Silkies
So when the same student said she had another Silkie she needed to re-home last summer, I said yes! But this Silkie is a rooster. I am allowed to keep roosters in my neck of the woods, so I figured I would give it a try. He was not easily accepted, but after about a month of him living in a sectioned off area of the coop, they begrudgingly accepted him. We have had him for 8 months now. He still gets pecked quite a bit, so it's clear he hasn't climbed to the top of the pecking order (he's much smaller than the hens). In fact, it has seemed that he has made his way up to second in command, or maybe tied for second, with my girl Bella refusing to give up her position on the throne. The smallest of the three hens, Dora, had always seemed to be at the bottom of the pecking order, and was the first to accept the rooster, and until this week, seemed to be on the best terms with him. In fact, she is the only one of the hens I have actually witnessed being "mounted" by the rooster. Which brings me to why I am confused about their sudden, violent fighting. Is there any chance that he has been "overusing" her and she is fed up with it? That's the only thing I can think of. Any advice as to what I should do? I keep thinking I should just let them fight it out, but once they start it is painful to sit back and watch. Right now I am leaning toward keeping them separated for a while longer and hoping this blows over. Also I am wondering if I need more hens, as I know only three hens to one rooster isn't ideal. But as a Silkie, he is small and relatively harmless. These fights are the most violent I have ever seen him. He lets me pick him up and carry him around, and sits in my lap and eats out of my hand. He's very chill. He is definitely the loser in these battles with the hen. I really feel like she might kill him if I let them keep fighting.
Any help would be much appreciated. I have only had chickens for two years, and any knowledge I have comes almost exclusively from this website. But I am definitely at a loss right now.
