My only rooster, Walter, disappeared yesterday while everybody was free ranging. We found several large piles of his feathers where he put up a fight, so we're sure he's gone. A friend is giving us two roosters to replace Walter. My questions are:
1. When adding new birds to our flock in the past, we've put them into a large dog kennel and left them in the coop for a couple of weeks to get everybody acquainted. Then we give them short amounts of together time to ease the transition. I've only done this with hens. Will it work the same with roosters?
2. These roosters currently live outside and roost under the lean-to of a shed at night. Our chickens free range during the day and go into a coop at night. What would be a good way to train these new guys to go into the coop?
3. We have two coops and 14 hens. The hens are allowed free access to both coops when they free range. Would it be better to separate the roos and put one in each coop, or should we keep them together in the beginning? While it would be nice to have one roo in each coop, I assume they'll want to stick together for a while.
Any suggestions to make the transition easier would be appreciated. Thanks.
1. When adding new birds to our flock in the past, we've put them into a large dog kennel and left them in the coop for a couple of weeks to get everybody acquainted. Then we give them short amounts of together time to ease the transition. I've only done this with hens. Will it work the same with roosters?
2. These roosters currently live outside and roost under the lean-to of a shed at night. Our chickens free range during the day and go into a coop at night. What would be a good way to train these new guys to go into the coop?
3. We have two coops and 14 hens. The hens are allowed free access to both coops when they free range. Would it be better to separate the roos and put one in each coop, or should we keep them together in the beginning? While it would be nice to have one roo in each coop, I assume they'll want to stick together for a while.
Any suggestions to make the transition easier would be appreciated. Thanks.
