Best way to isolate

[Rick589]

Have 6 BO chickens two cockerels, not intentional. All are about 8 months old and the hens are laying, the cockerels are doing what you'd expect with hens and are fighting over the privilege. We are looking to get rid of, re-home, one boy ( no we will not kill him) and add another hen or two. Hens are missing feathers and looking a bit ragged so, in the interim, we'd like to separate the chickens in some sort configuration to ease the stress in the flock until we can re-home one of the cockerels. Not quite sure of the best approach to accomplish this so we're looking here for some experienced advice.

 

[WingItRanch]

Try observing the cockerels and see which ones is the most gentle when mating. Which one tidbits to give the ladies treats? Which one waits for the pullets to squat before mounting instead of just grabbing.

Whichever one is treating your girls the best, keep. Separate the other. See how that goes before decided which one to give away.

If either of them are really rough with the hens or human aggressive, you shouldn't breed. If you decide to rehome, the polite thing to do is warn the person who is adopting him.

 

[Rick589]

Try observing the cockerels and see which ones is the most gentle when mating. Which one tidbits to give the ladies treats? Which one waits for the pullets to squat before mounting instead of just grabbing.

Whichever one is treating your girls the best, keep. Separate the other. See how that goes before decided which one to give away.

If either of them are really rough with the hens or human aggressive, you shouldn't breed. If you decide to rehome, the polite thing to do is warn the person who is adopting him.

Thank You for the response. We pretty much know which cockerel we want to keep( if we keep either of the two) so my immediate issue is one of how to nest isolate. Do we isolate the ‘offending’ cockerel, or both? Or, do we isolate the most abused hen/s? I only built one coop and run although we do have garage space. Never having been to this point of isolating a flock that has been together since day one I am admittedly at a mental impasse.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Isolate one or both boys.

1) If you isolate the beat up hens, it gets worse for the remaining girls being with 2 boys.
2) the girls need the coop with nest boxes.
3) isolating any girls for an extended period could potentially upset their pecking order. Roosters and cockerels are not part of that.

 

[WingItRanch]

Good post by wrathsfarm. Agreed. If you're worried about the single boy being lonely until you can rehome him, go ahead and isolate the boys together. This would also give your pullets a break.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Adding another thought, in case your thinking about your dilemma with having to separate.
"I wish I would've never built that extra coop and run".....said no one....EVER.

Bachelor coop for the boys, breeder coop, isolation/sick bay, brooder room, or if nothing else....storage.

 

[WingItRanch]

Adding another thought, in case your thinking about your dilemma with having to separate.
"I wish I would've never built that extra coop and run".....said no one....EVER.

Bachelor coop for the boys, breeder coop, isolation/sick bay, brooder room, or if nothing else....storage.
View attachment 4030731

Wow they're so handsome.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Wow they're so handsome.

Thank you. Only keeping 3 of them for grow outs, the other 3 are going today hopefully if the person shows up.

 

[Rick589]

Isolate one or both boys.

1) If you isolate the beat up hens, it gets worse for the remaining girls being with 2 boys.
2) the girls need the coop with nest boxes.
3) isolating any girls for an extended period could potentially upset their pecking order. Roosters and cockerels are not part of that.

Thank You. This is where clarity of thought comes from others. As for another coop, we have floated the idea but then again we just wanted a few hens for eggs and we knew the number of hens we were to get would overload us. So, another coop would open up more space for potentially more chickens and I really want to resist chicken math as much as possible. If we had just gotten the six hens we originally wanted we'd be golden right now. All said, we don't want roosters anyway but as it goes with me I've become attached, even to the problem child.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Thank You. This is where clarity of thought comes from others. As for another coop, we have floated the idea but then again we just wanted a few hens for eggs and we knew the number of hens we were to get would overload us. So, another coop would open up more space for potentially more chickens and I really want to resist chicken math as much as possible. If we had just gotten the six hens we originally wanted we'd be golden right now. All said, we don't want roosters anyway but as it goes with me I've become attached, even to the problem child.

I totally get it, I started with 4, then went to 11, added 5 more Marans and ended up with a second accidental roo (yay, 2 flocks) and now has exploded to 40 Marans, breeding and adding a 3rd flock. #chickenmath.

But every decision needs to be "solve for peace of the flock".
If you like having a boy around keep 1.If your in it for just the eggs and cuddles, get rid of both as when a roo takes over the flock, them girls become his. I can pick up both my main roosters girls at any time but they are seasoned and know my role. A young cockerel could get confrontational during his 'learning period' and cause some havoc until he matures.
I love my boys, (have 12 at the moment), but my girls and their safety are first priority, I don't tolerate any over mating and tag teaming is an absolute NO.

Best of luck with your decision.