JHH3
Songster
Hi,
I, unfortunately, had to remove one of two large Wyandotte roosters from my flock. Though they grew up together as chicks, they are teenagers now and they can't let the other one mate without contesting the act. The last straw was when one barreled full bore into the other while mating and the hen ended up with her neck torn open.
She's recovering but I ended up removing the one I felt was the more aggressive one. He's in a corner of the barn now, penned up but not completely secure. Assuming nothing gets him before I can make his corner more secure, he's going to be spending the rest of the fall/winter in there alone which leads into my question.
I live in Wisconsin, about an hour west of Wausau and it gets cold in the winter time. This is my first winter with chickens so I'm already stressing about them being warm enough. I'm pretty comfortable that the main flock will be ok in their coop all together, but now I have a single rooster sitting in the front, somewhat enclosed section of my barn and I want to make sure that he's going to be ok without anyone to snuggle up with when it gets really cold. I know the drill with no drafts and enough ventilation, that shouldn't be a problem where he's at, I'm mainly concerned that he's going to be ok when it's just him and his own body heat to keep him warm.
Should I be concerned? He's a good chicken, just doing what a boy chicken does, if he has to be a freeloader for the rest of his life I want to make sure it's a good one.
Joe
I, unfortunately, had to remove one of two large Wyandotte roosters from my flock. Though they grew up together as chicks, they are teenagers now and they can't let the other one mate without contesting the act. The last straw was when one barreled full bore into the other while mating and the hen ended up with her neck torn open.
She's recovering but I ended up removing the one I felt was the more aggressive one. He's in a corner of the barn now, penned up but not completely secure. Assuming nothing gets him before I can make his corner more secure, he's going to be spending the rest of the fall/winter in there alone which leads into my question.
I live in Wisconsin, about an hour west of Wausau and it gets cold in the winter time. This is my first winter with chickens so I'm already stressing about them being warm enough. I'm pretty comfortable that the main flock will be ok in their coop all together, but now I have a single rooster sitting in the front, somewhat enclosed section of my barn and I want to make sure that he's going to be ok without anyone to snuggle up with when it gets really cold. I know the drill with no drafts and enough ventilation, that shouldn't be a problem where he's at, I'm mainly concerned that he's going to be ok when it's just him and his own body heat to keep him warm.
Should I be concerned? He's a good chicken, just doing what a boy chicken does, if he has to be a freeloader for the rest of his life I want to make sure it's a good one.
Joe
