Advice wanted, rooster placement (ish).

[z3lda3]

I’ll try to keep this short. Basically I’ve got 27 hens and 3 roosters. The rooster in question is Fred. Fred is a special needs boy. He’s got a permanent limp, and almost blind in one eye. Because of that he’s been indoors a lot. A LOT. (He’s 2 years old, I’ve raised him since hatch. He was a loner). He’s an amazing rooster. But he doesn’t have a flock. My primary kicked him out once Fred started mating. I’ve got three hens that prefer Fred over the other two roosters. And they’ve just hatched a clutch of three that Fred is great with. Here’s my thoughts..splitting my coop in half, (it’s huge). Giving one side to Fred and the three hens and the babies, and keep the other side for everybody else. And add a door on Fred’s side to have access to the chicken yard. It’ll be a chicken yard on each side of the coop. But each flock will be separated. There’s plenty of room, that’s not an issue. I don’t mind having 2 flocks, but before I commit to that, is there anything I’m not thinking about? Or a better way to accommodate Fred? At first I didn’t want to take 3 hens from my primary roosters but they’ve been broody and separated for 6-7 weeks now anyway. Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[Debbie292d]

I think your plan sounds wonderful!

We've got several roosters who all have their own ladies and they free range. It's interesting as that will go on for weeks, then suddenly one hen is now hanging with a different rooster. It changes and nobody seems to mind. There are occasional spats, but they don't last long and they go their separate ways.

In your case, there's two "tribes" and each has their own coop and run. I can't imagine this not working. It sounds great!

 

[z3lda3]

I think your plan sounds wonderful!

We've got several roosters who all have their own ladies and they free range. It's interesting as that will go on for weeks, then suddenly one hen is now hanging with a different rooster. It changes and nobody seems to mind. There are occasional spats, but they don't last long and they go their separate ways.

In your case, there's two "tribes" and each has their own coop and run. I can't imagine this not working. It sounds great!

Whew! Glad to hear it can work!
And yes! I know about the hen switching. For a month or so a hen will be my roosters favorite, hang out together, sleep side by side..and out of the blue I’ll go to tuck them in, and I’m like, “where the heck is Betty?” Betty is with the other rooster and Myrtle took Betty’s place it’s like flavor of the week. No one seems to mind, so whatever floats their boat I guess lol.
I’m fortunate that I have really great roosters, I’m just trying to keep them happy. And poor ‘ol Fred needs a flock.
Two tribes..I LOVE that!!! Thank you!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

This does sound like a lovely solution for Fred. This is the only thing that worried me a little:

add a door on Fred’s side to have access to the chicken yard. It’ll be a chicken yard on each side of the coop

Will this put him in contact with the other roosters? Will it put his flock in with the general population?

I would think this would work best if Fred and his flock stayed separate from the others, where he can't get into spats with the other roosters, and no wife-swapping can take place. Just my thinking.

 

[sniper338]

If they are in the same yard to mingle still, they will have spats and hens will mix. The other rooster would still put him in his place over dominance. They gotta be totally separated.... way apart...

I have 2 roosters... each different ages and have different age tribes. But they live side by side in separate coops. Younger roo runs wild mating and trying to mate with all of em. Older roo just protects his girls, not the new girls. All of em try to coop up mixed up sometimes... separate em out and lock em up for several days and they separate out their self for a while again... repeat process. If they get used to something, they keep doing it.. creature of pattern, but it does fall apart and gotta re train every few months free ranging alot.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I was just concerned bc my alpha rooster killed a very nice cockerel I had coming along. Surprised me. With 20-some-odd hens at the time I thiught there were enough for both of them. Guess I thought wrong.

 

[z3lda3]

This does sound like a lovely solution for Fred. This is the only thing that worried me a little:


Will this put him in contact with the other roosters? Will it put his flock in with the general population?

I would think this would work best if Fred and his flock stayed separate from the others, where he can't get into spats with the other roosters, and no wife-swapping can take place. Just my thinking.

Oh no no no! Fred will be completely separated from the other roosters. Just Fred and his gals. My coop is massive. It’s already divided with a wall and a door and screen door. So Fred would essentially have his own coop and yard. With Fred’s disabilities there’s no way I’d chance a spat. I’m sorry I wasn’t clear, sometimes I think faster than I type and skip important parts.

 

[z3lda3]

I was just concerned bc my alpha rooster killed a very nice cockerel I had coming along. Surprised me. With 20-some-odd hens at the time I thiught there were enough for both of them. Guess I thought wrong.

I have good roosters. 2 roosters in a flock of 27. (And Fred and his tiny flock). It’s been 2 years so far, and my Cochin rooster and leghorn rooster get along. I mean they’re not besties or anything but no spats. However I keep my eye on them, with roosters you never know. But so far it’s been really cool to watch them kind of coordinate with each other. I let them “free range” supervised, and when half my girls go one way, my Cochin goes with them, and my leghorn will stay the other half. Or one of the boys will scream and alert the other guy who will give a “run and hide” alert. I had a hawk circling over head one day, and my Cochin ran the girls in the coop while my leghorn stayed outside screaming. Once the girls were safe, he went in the coop too. It’s just really neat. (Not that I trust that one day one rooster wont look at the other one, “man, I hate your face! And I’m going to rip it off”). I stay on my toes.