10-week old Australorp, hen or roo?

[CrazyCochin]

As @RoosterWhisperer said, I did have one and his name was licorice, RIP forever.
He had leg issues, then one day he died, we think he had arthritis.

 

[CrazyCochin]

where did you read that?

You guys were supposed to say "you silly newbie, you're panicking: everything's fine."

We'll have to find him a new home, I guess. From what I've been reading, there's no way to keep him around with only 4 hens, right? It's a shame--he's such a sweetheart, and he's our favorite. He follows my husband around everywhere when he's doing the yard work.

 

[TheFrogLady]

Where did you read that @TheFrogLady?

where did you read that?

There are a few threads on here where they talk about dealing with roosters, and how many hens are ideal to have a peaceful flock. The general consensus was that you needed about 7-9 hens for a rooster, and even then they can become aggressive. Since we've never kept chickens before, we're reluctant to get ourselves into a troublesome situation, especially during a long Ohio winter with the flock all cooped up together in the snow. We're afraid we won't know how to handle him if he gets difficult.

We've got the room for a rooster, physically. We're in a rural area with almost 2 acres. They're in an Eglu Cube with a 9 foot run right now, but we're building them a roofed run that'll be about 10' x 16'. Part of the run will be a 3-sided plywood shelter that we can convert into a regular coop later on.

Was your Australorp rooster a friendly fellow, too? Mine's a good guardian, though he runs off with all the best worms and doesn't like to share.

 

[CrazyCochin]

we have a rooster that lives with our 40+ hens, and he is not aggressive at all, and a bonus, he breaks up the hen fights.

 

[TheFrogLady]

He would probably be fine with just 4 hens, or if he's lovely with people he could easily be separated and still be pretty happy.

How do you separate them? Do you build a small coop area just for the rooster? Can he hang out with the girls during the day and then go to his area at night?

He's really good with us humans. He's always letting us handle him and pet him.

 

[CrazyCochin]

yes he was friendly, and he lived in a separate pen with other roosters, but he would bite every now and then.

 

[CrazyCochin]

I have a pillow with his picture on it.☺
I will post a picture of our pens.

 

[TheFrogLady]

I have a pillow with his picture on it.☺
I will post a picture of our pens.

That would be great, thanks! I love seeing other peoples' set-ups. We're borrowing heavily from every idea we see. We might have to get VERY creative with our run, because there's a national timber shortage, apparently! Metal fence posts, here we come!

 

[CrazyCochin]

This is the one he lived in. It is divided for the goose in the back.

 

[CrazyCochin]

We got the green fence at Home Depot. The Neighbors use electric chicken netting. Be right back.