silkie rooster is bullying one hen only

[crushgiant]

The saddest part for me is that right before he left he made a nest for his little wife and then ushered her into it and then guarded her. Then he let me pick him up and he immediately started falling asleep while I petted him. I suddenly felt terrible.
But it was one of those situations. Earlier he was pecking and pecking at the jersey giant. And my husband said 'I have someone who will take him before we leave but you have to make up your mind right now.'
So I did :/ I've felt bad ever since wondering if I could have just kept him and the other two silkies in the little coop. And the rest in the big coop.
A couple of friends voiced their opinions and said I did the right thing but why do I feel so bad.
Ugh I never ever in my life knew I would be so attached to chickens! Even grumpy ones. If someone told me this 10 years ago I would have laughed in their face.
Anyway I appreciate your reply and thinking at least he might still be granted life is comforting. Thank you.

 

[chooks4life]

Feeling bad is pretty normal and possibly even healthy... We don't generally get our animals thinking 'you're only going to be here 'x' amount of days' so we can feel like we failed when our time with them is cut short. There tends to be that automatic assumption that it's for life. You may feel sad now, but it's probably not comparable to how you'd feel if you found that he'd disemboweled or killed your friendly hen. I do think you made the right choice here even if it doesn't feel too good.

Keeping him caged could have been an option, but a risky one, as when an aggressive animal's been used to free ranging caging them permanently runs the risk of escalating the violent tendencies and making them indiscriminate. The very hen he treated nicely he could have turned on for want of a victim to abuse. I have in the past tried every method I could to manage aggression before resorting to culling and nowadays I just cull because attempts to manage or retrain are very rarely successful.

Anyway, hope things work out for you in future. Best wishes.

 

[Karen powers]

I found my Lil silkie hen dead in the coop after only being away for an hrs no signs of wounds ,is there a chance that one of the roos hit her in the head to hard they are very aggressive when mating but only then really are there any issues but my hearts broken still

 

[chooks4life]

Yes it's possible Karen, Silkies have vaulted skulls which are open over the top of the brain; the brain is only covered by soft flesh, not bone, and so they're very susceptible to damage or death by any roughness from the roosters. Sorry for your loss.

Best wishes.