Rooster Separation

[Sams Backyard Flock]

I appreciate your experiences. I took everyone’s advice and am trying to separate my 16 week old Alpha Rooster Happy from my small flock Of 7 hens. 3 are 16 weeks and 4 are 11 weeks. He is aggressive and not smart enough to realize the 4 are too young to mate. His testosterone is raging And he is extremely aggressive Now towards all of them.

The Beta Rooster Dixon only tries with the older ones and seems to take care and protect the young ones. If he becomes to aggressive with them I will separate him too. My question is... when you say separate Happy Originally I put him in the Transitional peak a boo pen. But he seemed to be agitated seeing the flock and would pace back and forth and try to fly and against the fence to get out ALL day long. It was sad. So the next day I let him out to free range all day and kept the flock in the very large run. Happy hung out all day by the run doing the same behavior trying to get into the run. He didn’t eat and barely drank all day in 99 degree weather. I was heartbroken. So yesterday I put him in a temporary pin 6x8 with all the same amenities as the run completely out of site of the main run. He was upset but at least Ate and calmed down some. But the pin is not predator proof for ground predators. So at night I put him back into the transitional pin.

I’m hoping to keep him separated until we can order 8 more started pullets and allow the young ones to get to egg laying age about another 5 weeks. Then hopefully have enough hens for both roosters. Am I being too optimistic, or making things worse?

Before I integrated the young females to the flock a week ago And Happy started to mate aggressively with the females, he was a great Rooster. He managed and protected the flock, worked Side by side with Dixon. He performed all of his job functions A+. He only wanted to try and mate the girls in the morning or late evening. Not all day. The original 6 all grew up Together. But when he did he was aggressive hurting and stressing the hens. Within that same week the hens didn’t want to stay in the coup with Happy anymore, was thinner and they were freaked out around him all day. Which is why I had to do something. Your wisdom is greatly appreciated.Thank you

 

[casportpony]

@centrarchid, can you offer any advice?

 

[centrarchid]

Both young and being a problem so I would separate both from females. Since only two, isolate them from each other. Bachelor groups for me work better with more rather than fewer roosters. I construct small pens and make so roosters cannot peck at each other through walls. You can make so they do not see each other or hens by using some sort of a partition. In barn I use pieces of plywood between pens. Out side I use heavy old carpets to provide cover and partition.