2 part question: Roo after new pullets...Please help!

my first peepers

Songster
11 Years
Jul 9, 2008
244
2
119
South Western VT
Hi all!
Part 1:
I have 4 EEs at 21 weeks (eh-em still no eggs) one of which is a roo. Then I have 2 (1 EE, 1SLW) at 13 weeks. I have done the quarantine, keeping them seperate but visible, slow intro thing. They have now been sleeping in the coop for two weeks but I have to run out 1st thing in the morning to let them out because I'm afraid my roo will attack them. It seems like the girls are getting used to them with a little chasing and pecking still going on but the roo has gotten worse! He terrorizes them any chance he gets. This morning he chased the little EE under the car, herSLW sister joined her out of solidarity but he continued to stalk them until I locked him up. Is there anyway to intergrate them and keep them safe other than this constant chasing? Am I intervening too much? Is he really out to get them or is this normal?
Part2:
I do have another home lined up for this roo with ChickaD as soon as she gets back from a vacation. In his defense he is mostly very mellow and lets my small children hold him. I never planned to have a roo and would like to give the girls more space. So as an experiment I kept him locked up for part of the day last weekend while the girls were out. They ended up far across a neighbors yard perched up in a tree! While I do have to herd them a little to stay in our yard, they have never gone this far before! Does having a roo keep them from wandering or was it just because I didn't catch them in time?
I could really use some advice here...I am new to all of this!
Thanks!
 
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what he is doing is normal, and keeping them from normally establishing their pecking order is just prolonging it. he will jump on them, he will chase them, and he will keep them where they belong. he will peck at them and so will your other hens. they ALL need to see where they fit in the "order" and they all will be told where they stand.
that said,, you still have to keep an eye out for the first day or 2,, some roo's, and even MORE hens get pretty mean to new comers,, but no matter WHAT you do,, this HAS to happen. throw them all in the run, and just watch for REAL aggression. and NO pulling feathers out isnt REAL aggression.
 
and P.S. ,, maybe he KNOWS their bout ready to lay,, and wants em to be fertile eggs.
wink.png
 
Thanks! That's kind of what I was afraid of...he seems so aggressive and they make so much noise! I don't intervene when he grabs one of the older girls I know they can take care of themselves.
What about the wandering? Are girls more prone to leave home without a roo around? I'm trying to figure out if it's worth traumatizing the little girls if he's going to be leaving in a week or if it's worth keeping him even though it means one bird too many for the space I have?
 
if he is leaving that soon, and where you've waited this long already, i would just nevermind it, and wait for him to go. and im not sure on if he'll keep them in their "boundries" my are in a fenced in area, but the roo tells them where and when to go,,lol,, and if 1 gets on the fence,, he lets out a scream to me,, and i come out,, and yup, their doing something their not suppose to do,, or theres a problem.
 

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