Hey everyone,
So we got three silkie bantams around eight months ago from a local farm store (not TS). Unfortunately, two ended up being roos and only one was a hen. We planned to get more bantam hens to offset this but due to other factors it didn't plan correctly. In any case, we now have two coops and extended runs, one with our main flock who are all great (one roo in there, all 8+ months) and another smaller coop and extended run for the silkies.
The silky roosters seem to be offstandish though and somewhat aggressive, especially towards the hen at times and not even when they are mating (sometimes just grab the back of her feathers at times kind of violently). We have eight week old bantams that we moved a week ago outside to yet another separate coop and enclosure but we want them to transition to over where the silkies are.
My question is, do my silkies sound too aggressive? They have yet to attack us but they are somewhat violent with the single silkie pullet. Yesterday, we then put one of the bantams in the new flock next to the rooster and he pecked at it (unsure if it was body or head) but that was our fault, we kind of positioned them too close without enough space in the coop. I was told by someone that the silkies at these stores aren't regular silkies, they're kind of mean hybrids although I'm not sure how true that is. The current young bantam flock is very sweet so the last thing I would want is to come back where they're all killed as I can't keep an eye on them for the entire day.
So my options are:
1. Cull the silkie roosters and let the remaining silkie pullet bantam integrate with the new flock. Again, they haven't been aggressive towards us but I am a bit paranoid how their possibly aggressive behavior (maybe they aren't) will evolve towards one another and potentially harming the new bantam flock. The two silkie roos together so far haven't gotten into a fight with one another but I guess it can happen at any point. My question is, can pullets become aggressive from such an environment too? Even with two aggressive roos, would she still, with a little bit of time, be able to integrate with this new flock?
2. Intelligently try to integrate the new bantam flock and pray nothing bad happens.
Thanks
So we got three silkie bantams around eight months ago from a local farm store (not TS). Unfortunately, two ended up being roos and only one was a hen. We planned to get more bantam hens to offset this but due to other factors it didn't plan correctly. In any case, we now have two coops and extended runs, one with our main flock who are all great (one roo in there, all 8+ months) and another smaller coop and extended run for the silkies.
The silky roosters seem to be offstandish though and somewhat aggressive, especially towards the hen at times and not even when they are mating (sometimes just grab the back of her feathers at times kind of violently). We have eight week old bantams that we moved a week ago outside to yet another separate coop and enclosure but we want them to transition to over where the silkies are.
My question is, do my silkies sound too aggressive? They have yet to attack us but they are somewhat violent with the single silkie pullet. Yesterday, we then put one of the bantams in the new flock next to the rooster and he pecked at it (unsure if it was body or head) but that was our fault, we kind of positioned them too close without enough space in the coop. I was told by someone that the silkies at these stores aren't regular silkies, they're kind of mean hybrids although I'm not sure how true that is. The current young bantam flock is very sweet so the last thing I would want is to come back where they're all killed as I can't keep an eye on them for the entire day.
So my options are:
1. Cull the silkie roosters and let the remaining silkie pullet bantam integrate with the new flock. Again, they haven't been aggressive towards us but I am a bit paranoid how their possibly aggressive behavior (maybe they aren't) will evolve towards one another and potentially harming the new bantam flock. The two silkie roos together so far haven't gotten into a fight with one another but I guess it can happen at any point. My question is, can pullets become aggressive from such an environment too? Even with two aggressive roos, would she still, with a little bit of time, be able to integrate with this new flock?
2. Intelligently try to integrate the new bantam flock and pray nothing bad happens.
Thanks
