Hen Pecked

I never wanted a rooster. When we were talking about getting the chickens, I told everyone that I was only getting pullets (females). I paid extra for that. :-) We decided to get all different varieties and I let my son pick one out. He went for the Silver Polish because they're so funny looking. He named her Phyllis (after Phyllis Diller). After about 9 weeks it became pretty clear that "Phyllis" would be renamed Phil.

I've been telling everyone that if Phil begins to get aggressive he will have to be re-homed. "I won't be afraid to go out to the coop because of a mean rooster, blah, blah, blah." Last Sunday Steve noticed blood on the beaks of several of the girls and we saw that Phil had been plucked and was bleeding from his nether region. We have not been handling Phil since he was a baby as he is pretty shy and now he is a little imposing looking.


Steve caught him and we administered first aid. We put him in our dog crate and he's been living in our basement this week while he gets extra R&R and a chance to heal (yes, a rooster in the house is quite noisy).



I was home today and by noon I was going crazy with his incessant crowing. I decided to see if he could go back in the coop on a day when I could keep an eye on him. Once back in the run the hens immediately started pecking him again! He doesn't try to stop them, and he was clearly happy to be back home. I had a devil of a time "rescuing" him by myself, and by the time I did he was bleeding. Grrrr.

So, he's back in the basement for at least several more days. There are products that can be applied to his wounds that make him taste really bad to a pecking, blood-thirsty egg-laying machine, but I haven't been able to find a local source. I'll have to order some online and I'll be ready with them before I let them at him again.

After all my worrying about him being aggressive, I am crossing my fingers that he can find enough aggression to rule the roost instead of being hen pecked to death!