[plumbob]

Hi, i have 5 hens and a young cockerel who's getting to maturity and is picking on one hen,shes a bit battered and bruised,covered in blood and one of her eyes is closed,is this just one of those things that happens and let them get on with it or should i move the cock,i dont want him to kill any of them,the hens are about 18 months old and the cock is about 6/8 months. :

Split topic and modified title to help with searching - Casey76

[Oakdalebirds1]

plumbob
i would place a saddle on the girl in trouble but im sure some one more wiser will give you advice

[Casey76]

Hi plumbob, welcome to the henhouse   Why don't you pop over to the welcome section and introduce yourself (and your chickens)

Regarding your issue, while it is quite normal for a cockerel to have a favourite hen, in this case you must remove the hen to give her a break.  Once blood has been drawn life will become very nasty for her as the other hens will also probably pick on her, attracted to the blood.

Do you have any purple spray?  You can get it from horse/tack shops, and it is called "Purple Spray"   The purple in the spray is antiseptic, so it will help prevent infection, and the purple will also help to disguise the red from the blood.

As she is so battered, I would bring her into the house for a little while, at least until she has healed a bit - do you have a large cat basket (or similar) you could pop her into?  Give her a good look over, as she might need a visit to the vet

Good luck

[joyfull]

be careful though that you don't get the purple spray too close to her eye