Who’s to blame? Hen pecked or randy roo?

[Aminorjourney]

Hello there! i’m relatively new to the chicken mama game, and we started our flock earlier this year. I grew up on a farm so I’m not a stranger to chickens, but…


When the weather is good here in rural Oregon, my flock of six hens and one rooster get free range of the yard. When the weather is not so good, they stay in their covered run adjacent to their coop.

All the hens are now laying, most every day, and they all have a really good temperament. To date they’ve picked on our lavender Orpington mainly as being the lowest in the flock pecking order, but they seem to have sorted out the pecking order pretty well, and I haven’t seen any egregious attacks from one hen to another. Our rooster on the other hand, a Red laced blue Wyandotte, has been known to be a little.... Rapey.... from time to time.

Most of the hens now know how to handle him, but I know both our Buff Orpington and Lavendar Orpington give him a lot of space. Three of our other hens (cream legbar, brown leghorn and black copper marans) have enough of an attitude to scare him if he misbehaves, and our lumbering Dark Brahma is almost as big as he is.

Tonight, I discover Marie, our Buff, had some feathers missing on her saddle. There’s a nasty scab formed too.

I’ve cleaned the area and sprayed some blu kote, but didn’t want to upset the scab as it seemed okay.

She doesn’t seem too bothered by it, and has a crop full of food, bright eyes and heathy comb.

As I didn’t put them to bed last night (my partner did) I don’t know if this was today or yesterday. When I let them out into the run (it’s been raining all day) she seemed okay. She’s been hanging with the other hens and when I checked her out I could feel she

Not sure if she layed today though... I had one Orpington egg but can’t tell which one it was from.

Our rooster is on thin ice already for his testosterone filled dickishness, but do we think this was him, or an argument/hen peck gone wrong?

The coop has a camera so I’m keeping an eye on them. Contemplating giving Marie some time in the broody coop but when the weather is nice they will all go outside (and the hens all avoid the rooster)

Thanks in advance, and “field trips to the local farm store” are totally okay as answers. This rooster is one of the meanest I’ve met!

Nikki

 

[ackie]

Off topic, but the spiral egg rack in the back of your second picture is amazing.

I'm glad your hen is doing okay!

 

[NatJ]

This rooster is one of the meanest I’ve met!

I don't know which chicken hurt your hen, but just from this sentence you may want to consider if you really need that rooster.

If you intend to hatch eggs from your hens, then of course you need a rooster (but do you really want chicks that act like him? Or would a different rooster be better?)

For any other reasons for having a rooster, there are ways to manage without one, or you could try a different one. I'm not saying you must get rid of him, just that it might be worth thinking hard about whether his bad points outweigh his good points.

 

[kcrandall]

IMO the Buff Orpington is being over mated. Some Cock Birds have a tendency to over mate with his favorites. I suggest you separate the hen from the flock until her feathers grow back because chickens are cannibals so if one pecks the scab and draws blood then they will all peck her which can cause very serious injury. I would also pen the rooster by himself when not free ranging to prevent overmating.

 

[human1]

I am not very experienced with chickens, but i agree with the separating part. other than that, i do not know

also, welcome to BYC!

 

[Aminorjourney]

Off topic, but the spiral egg rack in the back of your second picture is amazing.

I'm glad your hen is doing okay!

Thank you! We got it online, and was designed to be a teenager-proof way of ensuring the eggs that were the oldest were eaten first. What does my 17-year old daughter do? Eat the ones at the top because she said getting them from the bottom was stupid!

I don't know which chicken hurt your hen, but just from this sentence you may want to consider if you really need that rooster.

If you intend to hatch eggs from your hens, then of course you need a rooster (but do you really want chicks that act like him? Or would a different rooster be better?)

For any other reasons for having a rooster, there are ways to manage without one, or you could try a different one. I'm not saying you must get rid of him, just that it might be worth thinking hard about whether his bad points outweigh his good points.

You're totally right. I've been hoping he'd grow out of it, but he's not yet. I'm going to keep a very keen eye on him.

Why do we need him? Well, we're in a rural area with quite a lot of predators, and I've seen him chase off cats with ease. He does protect them, but yes, I don't like the way he treats them.

IMO the Buff Orpington is being over mated. Some Cock Birds have a tendency to over mate with his favorites. I suggest you separate the hen from the flock until her feathers grow back because chickens are cannibals so if one pecks the scab and draws blood then they will all peck her which can cause very serious injury. I would also pen the rooster by himself when not free ranging to prevent overmating.

Good idea. I had a suspicion it was that, and I'd already thought about trying to set up a pen tomorrow for her. It's raining heavily and dark, so now they're roosting I hope things will be okay. As for the warning about scabs? Taken very seriously. I had wondered about a saddle apron, but separation makes more sense.

In regard to over mating - do you think he caused the wound when trying to mate? It looks about right place-wise for a spur-wound.

I would honestly swap him out in a heartbeat. I was worried that perhaps I had too few hens (six) for one rooster.

Honestly, it's protection that we're more concerned with than anything else. I had to treat him a few weeks ago after someone nipped at his wattle. I suspect he didn't take no for an answer.

We have a local place who will "help" him go on a permanent field trip - but maybe I can try and find someone else locally who would like him... and hope that I can find a more gentlemanly rooster as a replacement?

Nikki.

 

[ackie]

What does my 17-year old daughter do? Eat the ones at the top because she said getting them from the bottom was stupid!

To be fair, I did look at that and think eggs rolling down the spiral might be dangerous. But my hens shells are so thick it probably doesnt matter.

 

[ackie]

Though that made me consider loading it backwards, not eating the new ones.

 

[NatJ]

Why do we need him? Well, we're in a rural area with quite a lot of predators, and I've seen him chase off cats with ease. He does protect them, but yes, I don't like the way he treats them.

I don't know what to advise, but I'm glad you're thinking about what he actually does, not just what a rooster "might" do.

 

[ackie]

I was worried that perhaps I had too few hens (six) for one rooster.

Do the other hens look rough as well? I suspect he just has a favorite, and more hens wouldnt really fix that unless he found a new favorite & split up his lovin between the two.