Bully Chickens

[Djrdn]

I currently have two roosters (unplanned egg hatches) in a coop and five pullets and one cockerel (raised since they were chicks) in a large brooder, all in my living room. I plan to transition them outside this weekend. Here’s the thing, I would let them out to walk around twice a day. During this time, I would clean their space, put out clean water and fill their food trays. The food would lure them back in their cages. I would do this first with the two roosters and then with the smaller ones.

Since I will be transitioning them outside very soon, I thought it would be a good idea to start feeding them all from their freeloading buckets that will be out when they are outside. I found that the roosters would viciously attack any pullet or the cockerel if they got close to the food or water buckets while they were there. So I use a broom to distract them. I found that if I hold it over their heads (it’s usually about 6 or 7 feet above ground level) they would refrain from pecking them.

My question is am I wrong to interfere? I know there is a pecking order that needs to be established, but I don’t want to end up with dead chickens either. Will this sort itself out? I won’t be able to watch over them every second once they get outside. Or is there a way that I can transition them that will lower the possibilities of me coming out one day to discover a chicken massacre?

 

[sourland]

It may be necessary to separate the older cockerels if you don't want the smaller birds killed/deprived of feed.

 

[Djrdn]

It may be necessary to separate the older cockerels if you don't want the smaller birds killed/deprived of feed.

So I guess I’ll have to keep them separate once outside as well. Do you think it’ll be safe to put them together when the smaller ones have matured? They are already separated inside.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Maybe you could let them out in shifts?

Also, try having at least one additional source/ location for feed and for water. Resource hoarding is often a real problem with integration.

 

[Djrdn]

Thanks! Sounds like a good plan. I’ll do that.