Rooster killed hen?!?

[rabiee]

I want some opinions on this, I believe one of my roosters, a young Jersey Giant/RIR cross killed one of my hens. This morning when I went to do chores I found her in the coop, neck and head all bloody and she was stiff, so I think it happened last night before I turned their light off. Everyone else was still roosted because it was dark. I don't believe a predator did it, because I have two female ducks in the coop as well and they were fine.
I have two roosters and 6 hens, this young rooster is just starting to crow and cause problems, he is very aggressive with the hens and rips their neck feathers out when mating. I have been trying to re-home him, but may cull him if I can't find a home soon.
Has anyone seen this happen before? Or do you think that they all could have gained up on her? She wasn't on the bottom of the pecking order, and they have a nice sized run, but the coop is small. When I lock them in I'll leave a light on for a bit before just unplugging the the extension cord from the house. So I don't check on them again after that.

TIA for any input.

 

[Cheyenne97]

It could be. I’m currently dealing with an aggressive cockerel right now too. Maybe separate him for a bit and then reintroduce after some separation. He will be at the bottom of the pecking order. However if he is killing his hens I would definitely cull.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I could see it happening especially if they were inside a coop. Young inexperienced roo’s could step on her neck in a confined area depending on size difference. If your young Roos are already tearing up your girls I would remove them asap. Provide them their own separate area. Until they get older and more mature. Often they grab the back of the head/comb with their beak to hold on. They often get frustrated and more determined & aggressive simply because they dont know what they are doing.
I’m so sorry for your loss. Must of been a horrible experience.
If you plan on breeding or keeping roosters perhaps you could get started on a bachelor pen. It’d benefit you in this situation and you’d have it on hand for a breeding pen or for when you raise another young male . Best wishes

 

[Kessel23]

I have a rooster that killed 2 hens. He snapped one's neck by accident when he tried to spur another rooster who was mounting it. That hen was dead fast and there was no blood, not even a cut. There was a little flapping and then nothing. The same rooster also killed a pullet with another head injury, this time with his beak. He grabbed it wrong and messed up the pullet's balance and it could not eat or walk properly. This one had some blood but not much. Roosters learn from their mistakes. This guy has never spurred another rooster while mating since he killed that hen. He also will not mate unless a hen squats for him, he didn't even mate for over a week after killing the second hen. I have seen my other roosters spur a hen in the face when trying to kick another rooster off and none of them have done it again since. None of them are aggressive towards another rooster while it's mating, they wait for them to be done then attack them.

I have had some pretty aggressive mating cockerels before, I locked them up where they could still see the hens but not mate and that really stressed them out. I kept them locked for a few days and when they got let out they were very gentle with the hens. Cockerels need to learn from their mistakes so they can become experienced and be labeled as roosters once they reach 1 year old. I do not think a cockerel will gain any experience if he is not by hens and even if you wait for him to mature and technically be a "rooster" he will most likely still act like a cockerel.

Also, send some pictures of this dead bird, there is a great chance that it wasn't even your cockerel. Having ducks on the ground means nothing, I have had plenty of raccoons come in and take chickens off of the roost while there were ducks on the ground. Ducks have way better night vision than a chicken and can actually move around in the dark without constantly running into things. A chicken on the roost is an easier target than a duck in the run. I have also had a mink kill 3 hens in one night. He bit through the back of their skulls. There was some blood and small holes but that was it, he only ate a small amount of one bird.

 

[Chickassan]

Ducks could have done it, if she fell off during the night she would have been "a sitting duck".

 

[rabiee]

@Kessel23 I don't have a picture of her :/ and disposed of the body already. But it was just very bloody, the head was still attached, but all the feathers were gone from her neck where the head meets it, and it was very bloody, it didn't look like there were any holes or chunks taken out.

 

[rabiee]

Ducks could have done it, if she fell off during the night she would have been "a sitting duck".

I thought of this too, but they are pretty calm and have always gotten along well. The ducks do go after the two roosters though when they try to mate with them. But they leave the hens alone.

 

[Chickassan]

Things change in the dark. A body hitting the floor would draw much more attention than if everyone could see if that body was a hen or something else entirely.

I thought of this too, but they are pretty calm and have always gotten along well. The ducks do go after the two roosters though when they try to mate with them. But they leave the hens alone.

 

[aart]

This morning when I went to do chores I found her in the coop, neck and head all bloody and she was stiff, so I think it happened last night before I turned their light off.

Blood was dark and dried?
Any other birds have blood on their beaks...especially the male that you speculate killed her??

Sounds more like a raptor kill, or a weasel.

 

[chickens really]

I would get rid of the other Cockerel/Rooster. How old was the Hen?..Possible she was attacked by the Hens too. I don't think your Ducks did the killing...