WHAT SHOULD I DO?....evey day another hen is attacked by one of my roosters!

[GuppyTJ]

Cluck5,

Unless you're absolutely sure which rooster is NOT hurting your pullets, I'd separate all 3 cockerals from your pullets. I don't think you said how old they all are (cockerals and pullets) or how many you have of each. But separating out the cockerals from the pullets is fairly common practice. I did this at around 16 weeks old. I had 8 cockerals and it allowed me time to evaluate them and gave the pullets time to mature without the cockerals pestering them and causing them stress. Cockerals at this age are not very mature, they will run down the pullets to mate with them and just take them, not being polite about it in the least. If your 3 cockerals grew up together, they will not likely fight much off by themselves. In fact, the conflict often goes down when they're off by themselves if they don't have pullets to fight over.

I picked 2 cockerals from the 8 and put those 2 back with the pullets at about 20 weeks. That re-introduction was easy as they were within sight of each other a good part of the time they were separated because the cockerals were behind a fence but the pullets free ranged. I prepared the 6 extra cockerals for the dinner table. I learned how to do it following the color pictures in "The Small-Scale Poultry Flock" by Harvey Ussery. It's not that hard to do, really. It was sad, however, to kill the cockerals, even the ornery ones and I had a few of them too. I never, ever feel good about killing any living thing no matter what it's personality was. But, preparing a chicken for the dinner table is part of the process of keeping chickens in my view and can be done with grace as well.

Hope this helps,
Guppy

 

[cluck5]

GuppyTJ. Thanks for the information and further to your question, I have a total of 11 chickens now, the group of roos/pullets in question are about 18 wks old. In that group are the 3 young roos, now 2 pullets, 1 hen. The other group is about 13.5 weeks old and consists of 5, 1 of them being a roo, the rest I am unsure of. They are not segregated at this point except for the initial 2 (JG/EE X roos). I have in essence, a back yard flock and do not have room to build another coop for roosters (but I do see the merit of having one so you can wait and see which one to keep, which ones to sell/give away/eat). I certainly realize I have too many roosters, but as you know, you can't tell what your going to get (pullets/roos) when you incubate eggs. And I did want to see which roo I wanted to keep and started looking for someone to take the 2 roos I wasn't wanting to keep (funny, the very same roos that are in jail as we speak)!
Guppy, thank you for the site on how to process chickens, I will be studying it thoroughly to be sure!

 

[cluck5]

Well, call me stupid...It wasn't our roosters killing the pullets, it was our dog. I never imagined after 2 years of having chickens, our dog would develop a taste for fresh chicken. I feel like a total idiot, so does my husband as it was he that was at home when the attacks took place. I feel stupid that I didn't even think that our "fantastic" dog would do such a thing, I feel stupid for not looking after these chickens properly (poor little things had nobody to look out for them). I do realize that many dogs have a natural instinct to catch/kill prey, I was deluded into thinking my dog was not like other dogs. I have only myself to blame.

 

[KrisH]

can you keep them separated?

What kind of dog?

RobertH

 

[enola]

I have a dog that would kill my chickens in a heart beat. I know how I would feel if she ever got a chance.

 

[cluck5]

can you keep them separated?

What kind of dog?

RobertH

I can tie him up, then he can't go after the chickens (as long as they are not dumb enough to go near him

) He is a Bull Mastiff (I know...what was I thinking)!

 

[azygous]

Don't be too hard on yourself for not realizing your dog was a danger to your chickens. Unfortunately, it's part of the sometimes sad learning curve we go through after deciding to keep chickens. We don't realize all the numerous ways these fragile creatures can encounter danger.

But, even though your cockerels weren't responsible for this tragedy, they will not suffer from being kept separate from the hens. If you can't afford to build a rooster coop, you can at least provide a bachelor pen. It really is true that until a roo reaches two years, he is clumsy and overzealous, driving the girls crazy with unwanted attention.

Back when I had my first two cockerels, I kept them apart during those first two "over-sexed" years. One was killed by dogs because I had to keep one outside the bachelor run because the two cockerels wanted to kill each other. But when the survivor reached two, I let him back with the girls. It surprised me to see how he had matured and calmed his instincts. He mated gently, efficiently and infrequently, compared to those frantic early years.

During the time your roos are maturing, the hens benefit from having peace from being constantly chased and mounted. They're calmer for it, and probably better layers. Try to figure out a way to provide bachelor quarters for your roos, even if it's only partitioning off an end portion of the coop and run.

 

[kkelsh14]

It can feel devastating and overwhelming to find something like this out. Over the summer my husband and I realized that my 3 yr. old boxer had been killing our calves, about 2 a week. We thought it was coyotes. What a terrible discovery. A lot of times once a dog gets that taste of blood he will never stop killing, as my dog didn't, no matter what we tried. He is now living with my parents and his "girlfriend," their boxer Zoey. Chickens however are most likely a little different. Maybe building a coop is your best option, but there is a thread on BYC about familiarizing your dog with your chickens. I'll try to post again with the link to it. Don't be so hard on yourself, easier said than done, I know. I'd say that the living situation for both your chickens and your dog should change slightly so that neither has to change too dramatically. Maybe keep one of those big chain link outdoor cages outside for your dog, and a good sized coop for your chickens (2 or more if needed) and on days your chickens are free ranging, keep the dog in his pen or in the house. Maybe not the best idea, I know money doesn't grow on trees LOL. Just a thought to get your own wheels turnin'.

 

[kkelsh14]

Hmm. I can't find it and don't have time to keep looking right now, but maybe your best bet is to train him, really teach him thoroughly. It's similar to teaching your dog not to pee in the house, I guess. You might lose another chicken, or more, just like as you begin potty training they still sneak into the back room and drop a load if they can get away with it, LOL. It stinks, but it's the only way to really do it right if you can. Don't let him out without supervision while you're training him. It will be hard! But bully breeds are very smart animals! He can probably learn if you teach him now. My dog went on a killing spree from early spring through midsummer and by then he just wouldn't stop, and he became depressed when we fenced him (he had spent his whole life running free on our 160 acre farm).

 

[cluck5]

azygous, thank you for your kind words and advice! I have managed to re-home one young roo, and am trying to re-home the other and then I hope I will have things under control...I hope.