A choosey rooster?

[crealusa]

I have come here for months getting answers but I need further help with managing my coop.

Originally we got 6 pullets. 1 turned out to be a rooster, 1 died, so we were left with 1 roo & 4 chicks.

Fast forward the roo was wearing out the chicks backs and reading here a ratio of 10 to 1 we added 8 pullets.

The pullets are 20 weeks old and the rooster will only touch the original 4. We tried separating the original 4 from the rest and even as the new pullets "flirt" w Pauley (our roo) he scuffles his feet and paces until he sees one of the original 4.

Sry for the long setup but is the pullets too young? Will he ever be interested in the new chicks?

Also to add to the confusion we have a white rock that is also 20 weeks but is having characteristics of a roo. She/he doesn't crow but will buck up against Pauley and her/his tail feathers are starting to curl.

Again sry for the mini series question but we are aftaid we are going to have to kill Pauley if he continues to abuse the 4 girls even tho he is an awesome protector and wasn't his fault we didn't start with enough ladies because he was supposed to be a lady himself.

Thanks in advance for any help and thank u to the many members who have answered questions of others that I had as well.

Please don't band me for my first post being too long. Thanks y'all

 

[chiques chicks]

Roosters tend to have favorites. The only thing to do is remove the rooster, sperate the favorite to give her time to heal our make our get aprons to protect the backs of the hens. Do a watch, there are patterns available here.

And welcome to Byc!

 

[Mrs. K]

Are your 20 week pullets laying? If not, give this whole thing more time. A non laying pullet is very low in the pecking order, and the laying flock and the rooster mostly ignore them. It is common in a multigenerational flock to have subflocks.

With a bit more time, the pullets will mature and the flock will meld together, and the rooster will take care of all of them.

If you have two roosters, they may get along, and they may not, you do need to have it set up so that you can split them up, if they start fighting.

You may need to cull one or both roosters. Sometimes roosters do not work out for a family or for a flock. Sometimes they are a wonderful part of the flock. Culling a rooster will often improve the dynamics of a flock.

Mrs K

 

[crealusa]

They are not laying eggs yet. That's the only thing keeping Pauley alive as my wife wants him culled. I am hoping u r right that the flock will grow together. We have 3 runs that can be separated as individual runs.

As far as the roosters, I'm still u sure if the one is a rooster. Would it help if I post a pic of him/her?

When I feed the flock scraps I feed the old 4 in the back yard and then I feed the rest to Pauley as he will make his announcement of the food he found and feed the new chicks. The one white rock will just go help himself even when Pauley does his shuffle. Another reason I have suspicions of her being a roo.

 

[aart]

First sign for pullets being near ready to lay in a multi generational flock is when the adult cock starts to hang out and mate with the pullets.
He will usually leave them alone until they are sexually mature.
At least that's the way I saw it here this summer, it was very interesting to see.
The pullets are still low birds but don't spend so much time hanging(hiding) together on the roost during the day.

Yes, pics would help to ID male or female.

 

[crealusa]

Great info. He finally "mounted" one of the new pullets but it was odd. Usually it's a 5 sec process but he kept going and going until she finally ran away as he had her crown in his beak.

I love roosters personality cause he was furious his favorite 4 was free ranging in the yard and ignoring his demands to get bk in the run. He made that sound when he is mad and then ran right after one of the red pullets.

 

[aart]

Great info. He finally "mounted" one of the new pullets but it was odd. Usually it's a 5 sec process but he kept going and going until she finally ran away as he had her crown in his beak.

I love roosters personality cause he was furious his favorite 4 was free ranging in the yard and ignoring his demands to get bk in the run. He made that sound when he is mad and then ran right after one of the red pullets.

She probably didn't quite submit, so he held on.