Posted: 9/1/2013 5:31:24 PM EDT
Now that a couple hours have passed, and I had a cocktail, I would like to vent to my fellow chicken owners. Went to lock up my 3 year old hens and found this. And I know the little bastard who did it. We have 25 hens on our property, you would think one rooster could get laid as easy as in a monkey whorehouse with a bunch of bananas. This guy is 5 months old, just starting out. I whacked his brother last week for an even lesser offense. The wife wants to keep him because he is a very fine looking specimen ( heritage Rhode Island Red ) He even showed a flash of nobility yesterday when the hens alerted and got all panicky in the woods and he went to get them. But this.....this has me pissed off. What good is a rooster who tears up the laying hens? I think the problem is the 3 year old hens don't think highly of the 5 month old upstart. They submit if they have to, but will often fight him off. I don't have a good track record with roosters - last year I whacked all 7 I had because they were obnoxious. Does it get better? Is this a phase all roosters go through....like teenage boys? Where you want to kill the little bastards? The good news is the rooster is still alive in the coop and by morning I will have a better perspective on things. And more practice in my first aid skills for the poor ripped up hen. |
| I got a dozen pullets one time and two turned out to be roosters. One grew larger but the small one was more feisty and always making his brothers life hell. It always was waiting for me when I went to get the eggs and every morning he tried to put the spurs to me and I would have to kick him once or twice to get in the pen. I had the big one for dinner, I just like a feisty rooster. |
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This rooster and I have already had our little "understanding". He knows I am the big rooster. He does not get aggressive with me. He did try, but quickly came to understand reality. His brother was relentless in his pursuit and mating of the hens. Very physical, very mean, yanking on feathers etc. His brother was a dinner guest last week. This guy seemed more mellow. The hens that are 1 year old submit to him, the 3 year old girls, not so much. That is likely the root cause. Just sucks he ripped up a hen so badly. |
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That's simply unacceptable. I would kill it. I have two pens (one was supposed to be for meat and the other for eggs but my son isn't warming up to the idea of killing chickens yet  ). It was supposed to be an existing Wyandotte rooster who is very reasonable with hens + 10 new Wyandottes (16 weeks now) but one of these turned out to be a cockeral. He is a real bastard and I'll be getting around to killing him. The other pen has 10 Buff Orpington pullets and one cockeral. He is very reasonable and will stay as long as he behaves.
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It's a barn yard. Not a chicken day care. That stuff happens. Hens heads can get plucked, combs torn, their backs road raw. If you don't like it, get rid of the rooster. If you have less than 20 hens per rooster, the rooster will jump the hens too often and the hens will show the wear. But this often happens regardless.
People are getting way overly attached to chickens in this forum and over thinking the "rooster or not to rooster?" question. If you don't plan on letting the hens go broody, get rid of the rooster. If you're raising meat birds, the roosters should be heavy quicker, and should be on the block first. Your neighbors will thank you and you won't have to feed another chicken that doesn't give you eggs. On the very rare occasion, a rooster is actually needed (outside of fertilization) for preditor watch to keep the hens alive. This is usually in heavy wooded areas with thick preditor populations. |
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Clickbangbang - Can't disagree with anything you post, you are spot on. In this particular situation, we have decided to keep the rooster because of his blood lines. He is our only surviving rooster, and we would like to hatch eggs in the spring. Will take some action to mitigate damage to the older hens, and hope we get a good hatch come spring. Thanks |
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Quoted:
It's a barn yard. Not a chicken day care. That stuff happens. Hens heads can get plucked, combs torn, their backs road raw. If you don't like it, get rid of the rooster. If you have less than 20 hens per rooster, the rooster will jump the hens too often and the hens will show the wear. But this often happens regardless. People are getting way overly attached to chickens in this forum and over thinking the "rooster or not to rooster?" question. If you don't plan on letting the hens go broody, get rid of the rooster. If you're raising meat birds, the roosters should be heavy quicker, and should be on the block first. Your neighbors will thank you and you won't have to feed another chicken that doesn't give you eggs. On the very rare occasion, a rooster is actually needed (outside of fertilization) for preditor watch to keep the hens alive. This is usually in heavy wooded areas with thick preditor populations. I dunno if predator protection is really all that effective in wooded areas. I live in a wooded area. The hens love to get out to feed in the woods. The foxes love to feed on the hens. Lost another hen yesterday to a fox. Rooster is not an effective deterrent from foxes, owls, dogs, etc. TRG |