I am brand new to the forum; I hope someone can help. We desperately need a solution to the problem. Over the summer we have noticed that our RIR hen was
really getting beat up. At this time she has almost no feathers on her back, tops of her wings, and only three tail feathers left. We live in Minnesota. The
winters are fierce even with a heat lamp and an insulated shed. The hens need their feathers to survive the winter. I assumed it was our hen to rooster
ratio. We have three roosters and 10 hens. Our newest rooster was a huge, gorgeous, blue-laced-red Wyandotte. He was finally filled out and I thought that
the combination of three mature roosters was too much for the girls. This last weekend I sold him at the local chicken swap. I hated to do it because he has
been a very nice rooster.
Our chickens get let out of the pen to run around the yard all day. They go in to roost at night and we drop a door to keep them save. My husband was watching then on their perching poles last night and discovered that our bantam Cochin rooster (I think he is two) was ripping the feathers out of any hen that he could get near. Two of the hens went and cowered under our Salmon Fav. rooster, but as you know they are wimps so he could offer minimal protection. Now I see that two other hens are missing lots of feathers on their shoulders.
We are so mad that we got rid of out other rooster and find out the next day that it is the other roo. The Cochin roo is named Yul and is my 11-year-old daughters baby. She carries him around, wraps him in blankets, and sits him on pillows while she reads in the yard. She loves that chicken. We have told her that we can't allow Yul to keep this up. There is no hope of finding a new home for a rooster that attacks hens. Is there anything we can do to stop this behavior fast? I am afraid I know the answer and my daughter heart broken. They are obviously pets and not really farm animals. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Our chickens get let out of the pen to run around the yard all day. They go in to roost at night and we drop a door to keep them save. My husband was watching then on their perching poles last night and discovered that our bantam Cochin rooster (I think he is two) was ripping the feathers out of any hen that he could get near. Two of the hens went and cowered under our Salmon Fav. rooster, but as you know they are wimps so he could offer minimal protection. Now I see that two other hens are missing lots of feathers on their shoulders.
We are so mad that we got rid of out other rooster and find out the next day that it is the other roo. The Cochin roo is named Yul and is my 11-year-old daughters baby. She carries him around, wraps him in blankets, and sits him on pillows while she reads in the yard. She loves that chicken. We have told her that we can't allow Yul to keep this up. There is no hope of finding a new home for a rooster that attacks hens. Is there anything we can do to stop this behavior fast? I am afraid I know the answer and my daughter heart broken. They are obviously pets and not really farm animals. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
