Alpha Rooster is dead, flock is acting ODD!

[Borders3]

I take it you didn't mark the eggs in case this happened. Then you know which to leave under the hen.
I have a broody Wyandotte Bantam that keeps sitting in the nest boxes and if I want to let her sit on eggs I would have to separate her from the rest of the hens as she goes from nest to nest after going out to eat. Another hen gets into the nest box to lay while she's out, when she goes back in, if the hen is still there she just gets into another nest box so the eggs end up unviable.

 

[Finnie]

Jefferson and Bruno were both part of our first group of chicks we got from a hatchery. All our different aged chicks are from the hatchery as well. So no genes are getting passed around here . It might be a lost cause but I'm going to still keep working with Bruno. I'm unfortunately very fond of him. If I get another rooster, I definitely want an older one from a flock!

I agree with your decision to keep working with Bruno and give him some time. He was the beta rooster after Jefferson for a reason, and with a little effort, you might could teach him to be beta behind you as well.

Also, cockerels go through a butt head phase between getting their hormones and growing fully mature. You won’t really know his true personality until he gets over that phase. If he doesn’t turn into a pleasant rooster within a few months, then it might be time for freezer camp.

You mentioned you have another, younger cockerel growing out. It would be worth waiting and watching how the dynamics of those two play out. One might be a better choice to keep than the other. If you have enough females, and both boys get along, it might be worth keeping a spare rooster. Also, if enough of those eggs hatch out, you are certainly going to have more boys to choose from.

Someone mentioned about marking the eggs under the hen. For the best results at this point, I would candle all the eggs, and remove any that seem to be at a different stage of development than the majority. And cull the majority down to 12 or fewer, depending on the size of your hen and how many she seems to be able to cover.

Mark the eggs, and check every day to remove any new ones. If you don’t control the number of eggs she sits on, what will happen is that they will get incubated unevenly, and many or all of them could die when they get pushed to the outside and cool off too much. Ones that don’t die could develop deformities and not hatch properly or die after hatching. At hatch time, you could find yourself with a lot of dead eggs or a tiny percent hatch rate. But with a proper number of eggs, most broody hens are excellent incubators and hatchers, and you should have a good chick experience.

I’m sorry this is getting so long. One more thing to consider is to isolate the sitting hen so the others can’t have access to her nest. Because when the chicks start to hatch, the mother may or may not be able to protect the first chicks from the other hens while she is still hatching out the later chicks. The other hens WILL kill the chicks if they can get their beaks on them. It’s not their fault, it’s just instinct and they can’t help their prey drive. The mother and babies need their own space for at least a few days until the chicks learn to obey their mother and hide under her when she calls. Then she can protect them and raise them within the flock.

 

[OzarkChooks]

I agree with your decision to keep working with Bruno and give him some time. He was the beta rooster after Jefferson for a reason, and with a little effort, you might could teach him to be beta behind you as well.

Also, cockerels go through a butt head phase between getting their hormones and growing fully mature. You won’t really know his true personality until he gets over that phase. If he doesn’t turn into a pleasant rooster within a few months, then it might be time for freezer camp.

You mentioned you have another, younger cockerel growing out. It would be worth waiting and watching how the dynamics of those two play out. One might be a better choice to keep than the other. If you have enough females, and both boys get along, it might be worth keeping a spare rooster. Also, if enough of those eggs hatch out, you are certainly going to have more boys to choose from.

Someone mentioned about marking the eggs under the hen. For the best results at this point, I would candle all the eggs, and remove any that seem to be at a different stage of development than the majority. And cull the majority down to 12 or fewer, depending on the size of your hen and how many she seems to be able to cover.

Mark the eggs, and check every day to remove any new ones. If you don’t control the number of eggs she sits on, what will happen is that they will get incubated unevenly, and many or all of them could die when they get pushed to the outside and cool off too much. Ones that don’t die could develop deformities and not hatch properly or die after hatching. At hatch time, you could find yourself with a lot of dead eggs or a tiny percent hatch rate. But with a proper number of eggs, most broody hens are excellent incubators and hatchers, and you should have a good chick experience.

I’m sorry this is getting so long. One more thing to consider is to isolate the sitting hen so the others can’t have access to her nest. Because when the chicks start to hatch, the mother may or may not be able to protect the first chicks from the other hens while she is still hatching out the later chicks. The other hens WILL kill the chicks if they can get their beaks on them. It’s not their fault, it’s just instinct and they can’t help their prey drive. The mother and babies need their own space for at least a few days until the chicks learn to obey their mother and hide under her when she calls. Then she can protect them and raise them within the flock.

Thank you, very helpful advice with the broody hen. I have marked her eggs and only let her keep 10.

The 10 week old brahma cockerel hasn't met Bruno yet. They can see and interact with each other through a fence but I haven't integrated the flock yet. Bit nervous about it.

Yeah, I figured Bruno deserves a chance. I'm hoping he might be a good boy because I like how attentive he is to the girls.

Now I will have to find a place to keep the broody hen and her eggs. Thank you

 

[cluckcluckhens]

We have two Roosters. Our first hatch produced a male so we have Rooster and Jr Rooster.

What we did is train the boys by showing them an item. A plastic rake and a flyswatter. Both did not like it on first attempt. We could not even walk in the run. As of right now I do not have to carry either of the items to go into the run. I noticed if I run in the run the flock all runs. I started walking slower and they don't run. I like to get in and out of the run as quick as possible because of all the other things I have been doing in the house. Our Alpha got beat up by his son. He is better and baby sits our six week old chicks since we picked them up last month.

One Hen is attacking the chicks so that is how I was able to get into the run without any problems. Carry something into the run that is taller than the Rooster. Plastic rake we never used on him just showed him the item and he pecked at it a couple times and walked away from it. My hubby did the flyswatter and put it at his beak. This is what worked for us. Running the Rooster around the coop did not work. Jr still does go after his Dad and we give him a time out.

 

[Chicken mob]

Perfectly normal for the docile rooster to step up and he may even get aggressive! That is why I no longer keep a rooster! When you removed the alpha rooster it upset the balance of the flock, they will settle in and be fine!

Ok so over a month ago my husband culled one of our roosters due to aggression. Ever since then, the pullets (6 month old) have been acting strange. There is still another rooster for them, but it doesn't seem to matter. All of them stopped laying the day after Jefferson was culled. Since then only two have resumed laying. Also, the previously docile beta rooster is now the only rooster and is not docile anymore. Is this normal behavior?