Dundee
In the Brooder
So I planned only having 1 rooster (named Mick he was supposed to be a black australorp and we'll he wasn't) and one of my hens ended up being a decent size black australorp. They are 22 weeks now and we needed to get more hens if we wanted to keep both of them. So now we have more hens that are 14 weeks old. I did the whole slow intro. Had them in the coop in a wire dog run, going outside multiple times a day to let them out and socialize them. They have all been doing really good the pecking order was establish and with no major pecking or anything for a few days in a row we decided to have them be with the rest of the flock today for the whole day. When I left for work I let them all out and took the crate out and my husband checked in on them a few times before he left for work at noon. When I got home at 330 one of the baby pullets (14 weeks) was on the ground not moving. She's alive but a chunk of feathers from the back of her neck is gone and she's not walking right. So I got a smaller wire dog crate put her in it after I misted her down. As I was walking away I saw mick (the smaller of the two roosters that's been a real "gem" since the hormones set it) was trying to pry open the crate to get to her. I know roosters aren't necessary unless breeding but I live with a lot of wild life around me (coyotes EVERYWHERE)so that's why we kept both roosters. My question is, shoukd I get rid of mick and keep the other rooster that's HUGE and has never tried anything (yet) or keep the younger hens locked up for a few more weeks? I don't want my other hens to be over bred by 1 jerk rooster that I really liked as a baby but now he's just nasty to them? Sorry I'm rambling and this is all still very new to me.
