calliescoop
In the Brooder
- Jun 25, 2023
- 6
- 17
- 26
First question here! Okay so we have 13 chickens who are about 16 weeks old. Of those we have 3 that are roosters and 10 that are hens. We also have 13 chicks that are about 5-6 weeks old now. The babies were integrated into the flock very nicely with of course some pecking and some hens keeping the food and water from them. However now they are accepted. Last week I noticed a different problem, the hens will not leave the coop or their roost. Upon further investigation I found one that any time a hen leaves the roost the Alpha Rooster tries to mount them and chases them down. Also he can chase them off the roost until he gets to mount one. I absolutely hate seeing my hens in so much distress and won't leave the coop because of this rooster. He was also keeping the babies from learning how to use the run to get back into the coop. He appears to have stopped this behavior. He bullies the chicks and chickens and seems to cause chaos. We are thinking that we need to take him out of the flock. Any suggestions? If I take this rooster out, will another rooster just replace his behavior?