Big rooster, (with some new big hens) adding to our small "girls"

[luvmygirlsinAK]

Yesterday afternoon someone brought us some standard size (well, to US they look like GIANTS!)

light Brahmas, 4 hens and 1 rooster. (This rooster proudly stands 2 1/2 feet at full height.) All 5 of these including the rooster are VERY docile and don't mind being picked up in the least. In the middle of the night, my son also brought back some hens and a rooster from another area in Alaska, while picking up some sheep.

Here are the type of chickens and sizes: We started out with 2 RIR/Aracaunas, 2 banty brahmas, 1 silkie, 1 english game hen, and 2 polish hens. Then came the light Brahmas yesterday, and now 5 month old: 2 Cuckoo Marans (one being a rooster), 3 black sex links, and 2 gold sexlinks.

My question is: Because we have such a variety in sizes, will it be harmful for the light brahma rooster and perhaps the cuckoo Marans rooster when full grown (I have NO IDEA how big he will be when full grown) to mate the smaller chickens, and will they even try. We don't plan at this point to hatch any eggs, we are just SO thankful to have them for the eggs.

At some point, we will definitely want to hatch some, but not until we have a separate area to do so.

 

[gritsar]

If a rooster takes a liking to a hen he's gonna try to mate her, no matter her size.
I wouldn't want either of my two LF brahma roos mating a banty hen. I feel sorry for some of my smaller brahma hens even.

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

We had a 14 pound light brahma roo (Samson) Added to our flock last winter. At the time it was a mixed flock ~15 big girls and 4 banties. He was having to much fun with the big girls to even notice the little ones. He did mount our silkie a couple of times though. Most the time the little banties could just scurry out of the way and hide in a corner or under the feed hopper.

I'd be more worried about keeping the 2 roos together, they are going to fight until they get the pecking order straight.

 

[snowydiamonds]

I'd be worried about the banties w/a standard or Large Fowl roo and the two roos, both, unless there is a hiding place the larger roo cannot get to or into but then its no fun hiding all the time, either.

I made a mistake the other day while in a hurry to move a new small banty flock into a coop the LF Ee's were in. I didn't take the roo out before I set an Andalusian banty hen inside and he basically raped the poor thing before I could get the door open (the coop has two windows) so I yanked it open and grabbed her out and didn't put any banties in there until all the EE's were in a different coop.

I thought she was too little for him to bother but I was wrong and she seemed to just be in shock, wouldn't move. I held her and got her outside where she could get her mind on what was happening in her surroundings before I put her down to make sure she was okay. That black Ee roo of mine is as big as a turkey and dumber than a rock about a lot of things- handsome as he is

I was watching him tonight and he's a neanderthal w/the ladies and tearing up their feathers on their backs so I am picturing him in the freezer. I've already hatched out 3-4 sons of his recently so I'd still have a roo of their breed while giving the ladies time to grow their feathers back.

I appreciate my banty roo Cockadoodle and BO roo Brewster more and more each day and tonight I was thinking I should only have those two unless young cockerels show they are as wise and kind while protective when they need to be -which seems most are not that intelligent.

I butchered Blue my LF Andalusian last night, he dressed out so beautiful and he was just as beautiful in life but his comb/wattles were too big and he was getting too protective while so young. I couldn't bend down for anything and he'd be right there to jab at me so he's in the freezer.

Is there a possibility of separating the two sizes? I just took a very young cockerel out of the main banty flock and also took away four of Cockadoodle's main ladies cause they were so small and I'm starting a new flock from them that will be black, silver and blue birds or some variation but smaller birds that I want to beef up the body size for eating and layers.

The reason I wrote about butchering is if you can't separate them now, you can always butcher the larger roo for now and when you're ready to separate the flock out, look for another roo then. If you hatch one out, you could keep it w/the banties until it gets (obnoxious or) old enough to crow then put it in w/the large ladies and he'd have to take two steps back and learn a thing or two quickly

(My new obnoxious Silver Sebright cockerel didn't take a step back except to one hen and Cockadoodle, once, then he immediately began mating the four small hens because I'd put them in their own area-he never had to impress the ladies first, he's so full of himself...otherwise, I think Cockadoodle would have left "Biker Boy" on the doorstep as a wet mop for me!)

Forgot to add, Congratulations! Light Brahma's are so beautiful! I'm planning on some of those in banty size for Biker Boy's new flock whenever I can find some eggs to hatch

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

Nope, no place to separate them at this time, unfortunately, and to add to it, the light Brahmas are sort of "on loan" until spring. The previous owner left the state with the posibility of coming back in the spring. We paid her $5.00 each for them during which time, we own them outright, but she has the right to buy them back for the same price in the spring if she does decide to come back. We just wanted the hens for laying eggs this winter and the rooster was a part of the deal. We did draw up a contract that said we were not responsible for death or illness during the period of time specified, but I certainly wasn't thinking of butchering the poor thing when I wrote that up!!

He is a very friendly rooster, was brought in all the time and sat on her lap while she watched t.v., so is very tame.

The Brahma rooster also hurt himself last week at her place and has a bum claw, and so limps some, and his "girls" surround him to protect him, even spreading out their wings over him, for what reason, I'm sure I don't know- as even with his bum foot, he's so big, (although so docile) I'm sure he could easily whup any of the other smaller chickens!

They obviously love their "man"!

Obviously he takes care of them well! They are sooo beautiful.

So far the two roosters have not shown any signs of agression whatsoever, but I notice that the Marans rooster really protects the girls that are laying eggs in the nest box. He is not agressive towards us or any other bird we have in the coop. Guess I will just have to keep a close eye on them. I've been going out every couple of hours to check on things, and the rest of the family does as well at different times.

Today, we also put an herbal salve on his toe with the bum claw, and also on his comb, or whatever it is called (just admitted how ignorant I am about chickens!

) as it apparently was frostbit. The previous owner didn't have any heat in the coop and only 5 chickens, granted, it was a much smaller coop, but I felt so
sorry for him as I could tell it was very tender, more so than his bum foot!

Thanks for your responses!

 

[MissPrissy]

I hope you are practicing intense biosecurity with 2 flock additions. But as I am reading you have no place for separation of the LF and Bantams? I take it the new chickesn are going straight into the pen with your current flock?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=70782

If at any time over the next 8 weeks you find illness or a bird has died that is an indication that you have a carrier come into your flock. Some members of BYC have had their flocks wiped out by a single new chick coming in without proper quarentine.