If you’ve ever raised hens you’d know that these birds are quite docile and don’t prefer to pick fights with each other, birds that will however pick fights with other birds are roosters.
However, you may find that your hen is the aggressor and is fighting your rooster, this article looks into why this happens
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Hen fighting rooster:
If you’re taking care of a flock of chickens you’ll know that the rooster is usually the boss. This bird will be at the top of the pecking order and will intervene if disagreements develop with birds lower in the pecking order.
However, these birds can sometimes be attacked by hens, hens may attack roosters for these reasons:
Junior roosters:
Junior roosters aren’t as experienced as older more mature roosters, hens know this and will test the junior roosters, they will do this by fluffing their hackle feathers up at the rooster.
This fluffing can be intimidating to young roosters as they don’t know how to combat an older bird, even if it’s a hen. The rooster will simply back away quickly and will stay away from the hen until it can take the hen on.
What to do:
If you’re taking care of a flock and the junior rooster is being attacked, there is nothing you can do about it. The junior rooster will have to grow and learn to defend itself against the hen on its own.
The rooster will win the hen over, and get her respect, if he manages to win in a fight with her. You only need to intervene if the rooster becomes badly hurt as a result of a hen attacking it.
If the rooster is badly hurt then you’d need to get it away from the flock and place it in isolation. Feed the rooster, give it water and give it medication if needed. Keep the rooster in a quiet and isolated place and give it time to recover
New rooster:
If you’ve just added a new rooster to an already established flock then the hens may be aggressive towards it and peck at it.
Chickens have a social hierarchy called the pecking order, this order determines who gets first access to food and water and determines who gets the most respect.
A new rooster that gets introduced to the flock will be picked on and will need to fight back to keep from being the lowest in the pecking order.
What to do:
The pecking order is a social hierarchy within flocks and humans can’t change who’s on top and who’s below, but you don’t have to worry, the rooster will eventually assert itself and dominate the other flock members.
A rooster will not simply sit back and relax while being picked on by hens.
The rooster is getting too close to the eggs:
Regular hens that are not mothers are very docile and non-confrontational, but when hens become mothers their personality changes, and these birds become aggressive.
If a rooster gets too close to a mother hen’s chicks, then the hen will fight the rooster, the hen will peck at it and attack it
What to do:
The rooster will learn to keep away from the hen’s chicks as the hen attacks it. There isn’t anything that you’d need to do in this situation.
If the rooster is being a nuisance and continues to attack or get close to the hen’s offspring, then you may need to isolate the rooster for a little bit or take away its access to the chicks
Hormonal changes:
Hormones have an effect on humans and on chickens, hens have hormonal changes from time to time.
Certain hormones, like the hormone called androgen, can cause increased aggression in hens. The rooster on your farm may, unfortunately, be on the receiving end of all this aggression
What to do:
The rooster will likely be able to protect itself but if the hen gets too aggressive during the fight, or draws blood, then you’d have to isolate the hen from the rest of the flock.
A hen with this much aggression is a danger to not only the rooster, but to the other flock members as well. Isolate the hen until the bird calms down and can be brought back into the flock.
If your rooster is injured you’d need to keep it isolated and give it time to heal. Offer the bird food, water, and medication if needed.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other chicken related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Hen Jumping On Other Hens Back, Chickens Fighting To The Death, Why Is My Chicken Throwing Up Brown Liquid?, Why Is My Chicken Throwing Up Water?, Chicken Crouching When Walking,