I bought a beautiful blue silkie Rooster just befor Christmas and put him in with my frizzle & silkie hens. Last Thur I came home at lunch to find one of my 2yr old frizzle hens with her scalp split open, her skull & entire back of her neck exposed & him pecking at her. I couldn't save her. At the time figured he'd done it trying to breed her & started reading about trimming beaks. I trimed his back the next day but, today I caught him in the act of pecking the head on another of my 2yr old frizzle hens. He wasn't trying to breed, he was trying to peck her head as hard as he could.
HELP! I'm afraid to put him back in with them, I don't want to risk loosing any more hens. He was used for breeding before and they said he was "an aggressive breeder" so be sure he had more then just a couple of hens. He has 13, although some of them are younger. He is only attacking the Frizzle hens but, the silkies are all still pullets. The hens he attacked were all the oldest (2 yrs) in the pen ....can chickens be breed prejudice???
Is there any solution besides get rid of him??????
Any help would be appreciated!
Killer Rooster - HELP!
Sarah, This is not the ordinary roo you have. I'd cull him or at least separate him for a month and see if he changes his ways. I've had many roos ...... none ever did what you're describing.
Oh Sarah, how horrible.
I don't think I'd ever be able to trust him again with the hens.
I agree with seperating or culling. We had a hen that nearly killed our rooster the first night we introduced them. She was visious, and we knew within 2 minutes that SHE would have killed HIM. We caged her in the coop for nearly 2 months. After that we introduced them again and just kept a close eye. She gets along with everyone wonderfully. If you really like this roo it may be an option to at least try. But if a after a few weeks of caging he is still agressive...to the roasting pan he shall go!
Good luck!
Melissa
He can't be trusted. Period. I wouldn't bother with caging and separation. Unless you paid a bundle for him I would just kill him. Or see if you can get a refund if you return him. His offspring are apt to be mean also so I don't think he would be good breeding stock.
Thanks everyone. This is very frustrating as I think it's unusual behavior for him. He was with the hens for a month befor he started this. The lady I bought him from appeared very concerned & caring about him when we shipped him. He is a very good bird to handle, not aggresive or mean at all. He hasn't show a lot of aggression around the hens but, he has never in my sight succeded in breeding any of them either. They tend to run screaming from him but, they are mostly young also.
I've seperated him for now in the 2'x3' inside thier pen where he can still see them. I guess I'll try that for awhile but, because of the delay in this happening, I don't think I'll ever trust him again.
I got rid of the last silkie roo because he NEVER shutup & now this! Anyone know where I can find a "nice" blue silkie rooster!!!! Dang!!!
Try wwww.poultryconnections.com.
Maybe try eggbid.com. There is an auction on their for a blue birchen silkie rooster. It says he is almost a year.
Also, you could try putting an ad on craigslist. I've seen chickens posted on there before.
I don't think I would want to use him as a breeder, either.
Sometimes chickens will go cannibal for several reasons,
some being deficiencies in diet or not enough space.
Also, a close inspection of your hens may reveal some
little sores that he found interesting, and just decided to
pick. It's sad, but once they get a taste for it, most can't
be stopped. I hope you can find a solution, or maybe
a much more gentlemanly roo.