Bantams flying out!

[oscarfanitny]

Hello everyone...I have a situation. I'm the owner of 10 standard chickens and recently adopted 3 bantams (1 roosters and his 2 girls). These chickens were basically ferel as he didn't give them a place to stay at night (it was just a wood house with no nesting boxes, roosting bar, bedding and no fence area). They did, however, come home every morning to eat and then were gone again. Well, the first night they flew out of my 6 foot fence, so I kept them in a dog cage for the night. The next day I clipped their wings, first one side (they flew out again), then the other side....still flying over 6 ft! Now, I have noticed that the rooster is in complete control of his 2 woman (he's scared to death of my large hens and is putting all his attention on the 2 girls he came with). Last night, He paced and paced looking how to get out of the fence, and completed his task - then started yelling for his woman. I quickly grabbed the girls and put them in the coop and closed the doors. He flew into the tree and continued calling for about 10 minutes before going to sleep. I waited 20 minutes and grabbed him out of the tree and locked him in the coop with the others. I let them all out of the coop and back into the fenced area this morning. I have no idea when I go home if they will be there (I have every predator known to man in my area!). Question...if I isolate the rooster from the all the girls for 24 hours, when I re-introduce him, will he have lost some status with the girls so that they don't continue to follow him over the fence? HELP!!! I really don't want them to go to the predators....even though it may be that way already. Fox hunts at 10 AM.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Question...if I isolate the rooster from the all the girls for 24 hours, when I re-introduce him, will he have lost some status with the girls so that they don't continue to follow him over the fence?

I doubt it will have much impact in that short of a period.

What I would do is put them on lock down, inside your coop for about 3 days in order to "home" them to their new digs... if your big gals aren't being too brutal.

He is right to be scared of your large ladies. Most mine will not tolerate a bantam stag trying to tell them what to do or mounting them.

Is adding a top onto your 6 foot fence an option?

Very kind of you to offer them a proper home, despite the challenges it brings.

Once ya got them calmed down a bit, I suggest checking after dark with a flash light to see if the have lice or mites by parting the feathers below the vent and on the abdomen down to the skin and look for things crawling away. This give a much clearer picture than day time inspections. Angry red skin would be another indicator.

Good luck settling them in!

 

[oscarfanitny]

Thank you for the advice. So far, there was minimal contact between them and my giants. The first day, he went up against one of my smaller hens (still not small) and she sat on him. That was his one and only attempt. One of the bantam girls went up against the alpha of the hens and she gave her a quick peck and a stare down and that was the end of that. Other than that, there hasn't been any scraping in the fence area. I'm still waiting for WWIII! Ah, the enclosure is very large so a top netting is out of the question as is adding extra height. So, it is what it is. I'm hoping that if I get the girls to like the nesting boxes, that make them content to stay even with the persistent rooster pushing them to leave. I'm looking for a miracle.
As for mites and such...they look real healthy and their feathers are all tight and intact, but I will look at their skin tonight as suggested...thank you. I have rats that keep coming into the house and that's brought mites to my girls every summer and lots of feather loss. They hate the DE dusting as much as I, but it's very effective.

 

[aart]

Ah, the enclosure is very large so a top netting is out of the question as is adding extra height.

Might be you need to have a smaller fully enclosed run for times like these.

They hate the DE dusting as much as I, but it's very effective.

Hmmmm...permethrin would be much better.


Oh, and....Welcome to BYC! @oscarfanitny

 

[oscarfanitny]

Update...No more flying out - yes that was FAST adjusting! The new girls are loving the bedding filled coop and nesting boxes (they didn't have these before) and the hens are being kind to them and I haven't seen any fights since the first day, and then only 2 instances that were really mild. The rooster is being "groomed" by the older hens and, last nigh, he was not allowed in the hen house (3 giants stood guard) until all the girls, including his 2, were in. One of the new hens was so excited to have a place to go at night, she was one of the first ones in. The rooster is adjusting to having "help" with his harem.