Barf the rooster

[ashyannehand]

So - Saturday my husband and I picked up barf the rooster from our local ASPCA. He had been in isolation for more than 2 weeks and had been checked for all the diseases they could check for, so on. I was so excited to get him home to the girls. They have not had a roo for over a month when we culled our last roo for being too mean.

We get him home, take him out of the carrier and let him meet the girls. He was strutting around for about two minutes. He walked up to the head hen, who is a buff orp, and attempted to "do his job" and she proceeded to beat his roo butt!

He did try and bow up at her at first but she just beat him up. He run off into the bushes.

Later on he came out but stayed away from the girls as much as possible. When he would get too close they would beat him up. He ended up in the coop for the night, following the girls in. When I went out the next morning he was huddled in the corner with no neck feathers to speak of.

Really - he is ugly enough without being bald on his neck!

Now barf is kinda small. He is only about 5 months and skinny, since he was a rescue. I want him to grow and be a big roo who will "do his job" with the girls. How do I acclimate him to the girls without him being their "whipping pole"? Any ideas?

For now he is in the back yard and DID NOT go in the coop last night. He basically hides in the bushes most of the time and only comes out when he thinks no one is looking.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions anyone has.

 

[debilorrah]

First of all I about sprayed my water all over the place when I read that poor animals name. BARF!!!!! That is funny! BO's are big birds to start with and if your hen is bigger than he is she may well enjoy klicking his butt.

 

[onthespot]

This is serious for Barf. I gave a similar aged roo to a friend of mine with two RIR hens and they killed him. I would keep him penned in the coop in a cage where they can see him and get used to him and when he looks bigger than them I'd turn him loose inside the coop and lure the girls in with treats and see how it goes. It is a matter of life and death to your poor boy! Please give him a chance to grow up first before you expect him to do a man's job, especially with already grown up hens.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I agree. Put him where the hens can see him, but not attack him. Roosters are always the ones that get a bad rap for being mean, but a top hen can kill a young inexperienced rooster.

 

[77horses]

I have a similar problem. We bought a pretty splash cochin rooster, who is still young( I think, since he acts like it and he has pretty small wattles/comb) and we have four 4 month old girls, two BO's and two red stars. Well, we let him out, and the girls just stared at him a few minutes, then slowly approached him to look at him better, and one of the red stars(Cinnamon) walked up and was looking at his feathered feet. Then the others came over, and they seemed to be getting along OK. But then one of the big BO hens(Setherina) walked over and pecked at him! He ran away, the others following him. They weren't really being aggressive, just curious and bossy. The BO's are nicer to him, but the red stars seem to chase him a lot. He seems too young still to be interested in the girls, too.
So, we placed him in a separate chicken run outside, and he stayed there for the night in an extra coop that we have. We named him Foghorn, since whenever he gets scared or when he sees our dog, he makes this funny "hunk" sound like a goose. So we named him after what he sounds like!

But anyway, I would keep him separated from the others until he gets older.
Good luck!