Cochin rooster too big for Pedresa hen?

[elaineinspain]

My 5 month old Pedresa (very similar to barred rock) has become very attached to my 8 month old Cochin rooster and they are pretty much always together.
She started laying 2 weeks ago and hasn't missed a day.
Yesterday I noticed she was waddling with her tail down and legs more open than usual. I checked her vent and abdomen - no egg stuck in there so not egg bound (also she laid an egg today.) No mites round her vent. Her vent looks light pink and healthy. Her comb and wattles are bright red. She is eating and drinking normally. She flew up to her roost last night with the other girls. She is top of the pecking order and is holding that position, as far as I can see. She has no symptoms of illness - The only thing that worries me is the way she has her tail down and how she waddles. She doesn't have it down 100% of the time, but quite often.
Could it be that the cochin rooster (around 5kg) is too heavy for her (around 1 - 2 kg) and might have hurt her back during mating?
I was thinking of putting her into the broody cage set up I have in the chicken coop for a couple of days, as we have a second cochin rooster who she is not amiable with, and now that she's not running so fast and is an easy target he jumps on her to mate without her consent. If it is a back injury I thought giving her a break from the boys for 3 - 4 days would help her.
Has anyone any suggestions?

 

[azygous]

I'm not familiar with Pedresas. If she's a bantam breed, yes, a Cochin could injure her during mating. He would be more likely to crush internal organs than injure her back, but that could happen, also, I suppose if he is triple her size and weight.

How about posting photos of them, if not side by side, then with something to show the scale of each one? Or weigh each and tell us that information.

 

[aart]

I'd remove the boy(s) instead of the girl.
2 males can increase both their exuberance due to the competitiveness.

Birds bodies do change after they start laying, the pelvis widens, so that may be the reason she is walking differently. Also now that she is laying she is more attractive to the maters, so that may increase the males interest in her.

 

[elaineinspain]

I'm not familiar with Pedresas. If she's a bantam breed, yes, a Cochin could injure her during mating. He would be more likely to crush internal organs than injure her back, but that could happen, also, I suppose if he is triple her size and weight.

How about posting photos of them, if not side by side, then with something to show the scale of each one? Or weigh each and tell us that information.

I'd remove the boy(s) instead of the girl.
2 males can increase both their exuberance due to the competitiveness.

Birds bodies do change after they start laying, the pelvis widens, so that may be the reason she is walking differently. Also now that she is laying she is more attractive to the maters, so that may increase the males interest in her.

here are some photos I took today. A pedresa is very similar to a barred rock. She is not a bantam.

Only in the first photo you can see her with her tail down. She seems to have it up more today than yesterday and she is walking more normally too.

Here's a photo of the rooster that chases her to mate and she doesn't want to. (She seems to like the black rooster much more than the white one. Maybe you recognise him. He was the one that was acting submissively towards me earlier this month. That behaviour has subsided since I followed your suggestions

)

 

[azygous]

He's not likely to injure these hens unless it's to spur them or bloody a comb when he grabs it to balance himself.

Just keep an eye on her for signs that she's unwell.

 

[elaineinspain]

He's not likely to injure these hens unless it's to spur them or bloody a comb when he grabs it to balance himself.

Just keep an eye on her for signs that she's unwell.

Thank you for your quick reply. Yes, I am keeping an eye on her. She doesn't have any symptoms of anything except for the waddling and lowered tail which both seem much better this afternoon. She's eating and drinking well, She is running with the flock as usual and she laid this morning. She is still head girl in the pecking order. I hope I'm not making a fuss about nothing!

 

[azygous]

No, you aren't making a fuss over nothing. Changes in behavior are your first indications of something not right, and early detection can often spare your chicken's life by treating it early on.

I am going to take a guess that she was experiencing "cramps" associated with a stubborn egg. If you ever see her behaving that way again, and especially if you see her squat and pump her tail up and down or if she spends unproductive lengthy intervals on a nest, give her a crushed human calcium tablet or a Tums or other calcium supplement. That can help her muscles push out the egg.