Cockerel and pullet bonded pair?

[babybop11]

I have two 7 week old EEs, one pullet and one cockerel. Obviously, they were in the brooder together, but they are absolutely inseparable. Neither goes anywhere without the other and they rarely interact with the older birds (some 10 week olds and some 1 year olds). My question is, how normal is it for a cockerel and pullet to become bonded to this degree and will they assimilate to the flock or always do their own thing? It may be hard to predict, I don’t know, but if anybody has any similar experiences, I’m interested to hear.

 

[Mrs. K]

Birds in a brooder tend to stick together during the juvenile stage. They form what is called a sub flock. As pullets approach laying they rise in the social status, and one day you go down and realize the sub flock is gone, it is just one flock of laying hens.

The cockerel is going to develop much sooner. He is in the darling stage, a very enjoyable stage...which often totally confounds people, when he becomes the nightmare. He will be come sexually interested much sooner than the pullet.

He may make her life hell at that time, largely because he really will fail to impress the older girls, and they will thump some manners into him.

They are animals, and no one can quite predict how it will go, but definitely keep an eye on the his pullet. And always have a plan b set up and ready to go for the cockerel. They can go south quickly.

So I would not expect this bonding to last much after 3.5 months to 5 months, depending on when the hormones hit him. Later on, it is not uncommon for a rooster to have a favorite, but it may or may not be this pullet.

Mrs K