Aggressive rooster attacking hen

[kindadefinitely]

I’m hoping to get advice specific to my situation. I realize there are many posts about aggressive roosters, and a lot of them suggest rehoming or culling, which is likely the answer.

I have a rooster and five hens. Raised from chicks. 7 months old. I realize the rooster is just coming into his own, and that probably part of the issue, and I’m hoping I can solve the problem I have without anyone dying.

Rooster is an Easter egger, hen is a blue Orpington. She’s got some weight on him, but size wise they are pretty close (she’s probably slightly bigger). She’s always been sort of a quiet bully. Not too hen, as far as I can tell, but not bottom. She’s big enough to hold her own against the other girls, some grumbling but no actual fights (I have two hens who are the mean girls, but no terrible behavior).

Annie the Orpington recently had a bloody cheek and comb, I thought maybe they got into a squabble but it would resolve itself with a little blukote. Next day it’s worse. Didn’t see who did it, but the blood was in two nesting boxes, everyone else seemed clean. No idea what happened. I took her out and put her in her own space (only a 2x4 box) for four days and she scabbed over, seemed in pretty good spirits. Sprayed her down again with antibacterial and blukote. Put her in the run, she wanted nothing to do with it, totally scared, but seemed to be left alone. One of the mean girls even flew up to check her out and they preened each other a little. Everything seemed ok. Left after about 20 minutes.

Came back 10 minutes later to watch from a distance and there’s a lot of action, everyone is kind of flapping around and I can see the rooster is attacking her, she’s got her head stuck between two stumps for protection, looks like she’s submitting, back down, butt up, wings out a little. He’s relentless even when I run up to them. I went into the run and took him out, she had a quarter size hole in her head.

I have her out of the flock again to heal. My plan is to let her heal, put her in and take him out for a week. Make sure the girls are ok together, then try to reintroduce him. Will it help if I put him in pinless peepers? I’m afraid he might turn on the other hen who doesn’t submit, tonight she was sleeping away from the rest in the coop, but she’s small (a polish) and she’s always been faster and away from the rest. I had to cut her bangs because she was getting picked on by some of the other girls (including Annie, at the time).

The coop is 6x5, the run is 8x12. I’ve read I should have more girls per rooster, I’ve read they should have more space. None of them free roam because we have coyotes and bobcats and I’m afraid for them.

Does anyone think my plan will work? Annie is healthy and has been laying for months. I don’t think she lets him breed with her. I’m assuming it’s a dominance thing but I would have thought he would stop when she was submitting. I’m not willing to let him kill her, I’m just hoping someone else has some ideas or has gone through something similar and can weight in.

 

[Coffetym]

I know that there are many with more experience than I have, however, from what I have experienced if a hen is being bullied it may start with the rooster but it seems to spread like a disease. The next thing I have seen is the other hens begin to run the bullied hen away from the feed & even try keeping her from roosting. I have found that a dominant/aggressive rooster with people will never attack anyone that is more aggressive or dominant than he is. Almost like the alpha/beta trait with dogs.
My latest roo is a juvenile EE, he is very protective of his girls & has attacked my wife who happens to be much more timid than myself or our daughter, he has never charged either of us though.
Once the majority of the flock finds out they have a target to bully, they usually will never stop.
I would say if you’re wanting to keep this roo, put him in solitary until he matures then let him have limited access to the hens until you know he has matured beyond his juvenile aggression.

Good luck with this!

 

[kindadefinitely]

I know that there are many with more experience than I have, however, from what I have experienced if a hen is being bullied it may start with the rooster but it seems to spread like a disease. The next thing I have seen is the other hens begin to run the bullied hen away from the feed & even try keeping her from roosting. I have found that a dominant/aggressive rooster with people will never attack anyone that is more aggressive or dominant than he is. Almost like the alpha/beta trait with dogs.
My latest roo is a juvenile EE, he is very protective of his girls & has attacked my wife who happens to be much more timid than myself or our daughter, he has never charged either of us though.
Once the majority of the flock finds out they have a target to bully, they usually will never stop.
I would say if you’re wanting to keep this roo, put him in solitary until he matures then let him have limited access to the hens until you know he has matured beyond his juvenile aggression.

Good luck with this!

Thanks for your response! I did have a bit of bullying of the polish and she learned to be quicker than everyone else. Weirdly he seemed to take her under his wing (and she also hasn’t let him mount her, but she’s not laying yet).

 

[Altairsky]

Vicks vaporub. Put it on the head and comb off all the bullied hens. It tastes horrible. My cockerel would destroy the comb of my elderly dominant hens even after they submitted. Fixed the issue with the disgusting cold balm.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/which-cockerel-should-i-keep.1634469/page-3

 

[Mrs. K]

A nice laying hen will go nicely in someone else's flock. I would advise against separating the victim, unless you can do it in the run. She just has a separate space. It may take months. If you don't have a way to make a separate space, let either the victim or the rooster outside of the coop/run. They will hang close to the set up, less chance of a predator, not perfect, but being a victim is not perfect either.

I will say this, I have had an established flock for decades, and I had never seen this behavior with a rooster until this summer. He was more than a year old, and he and a pullet just made a BA's life miserable. They were heartless. Constantly attacking and chasing, tag teaming. I either let her out and kept them in, or vice versa. I had really planned to cull all of them in late summer when they were all free ranging. But one day, a coyote picked off the pair of bullies! (Never have I had a predator take the right birds! haha).

Thing is, immediately the flock settled down, was much more pleasant. The BA was completely accepted by the flock. I had a cockerel chick that has since grown up, and does not have an issue with her so far. We will see.

The thing is when you add or remove birds you will get a big change in the dynamics of the flock. I understand in a way, wanting to keep the birds you have, but that is not a harmonious flock. It is really better to adjust the flock for harmony and peace. IMO birds are not a forever deal, keeping the flock is, it is a rather a constant process of adjustment to maintain that. The easiest is to let birds come and go.

Being raised together has really no influence on future behavior. Some birds fit in the group, and some birds do not. It is up to the keeper to adjust. Always solve for peace in the flock.

Mrs K