Bully EE's

[EggSighted4Life]

I was also thinking that you might keep the EE in and allow the smaller ones time alone in the outside part to familiarize themselves with their surroundings.

Also another question I am not sure has been addressed is how much room are we taking? Indoors, outdoors, roost space? Any time to free range?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I'm sorry about butting into this conversation but I have a question that needs to be answered .and I don't know where to go to put it on it ,? so hopefully someone can help me here I have 7 hens and i introduced a rooster to them a couple months ago to my hens .the hens still will not except him they chase him around they pick on him and they have pecked all the feathers out of his head they chase him away when he tries to eat I do not know what to do with this situation they are not free ranged should I build him a separate coop

Hi.

I know you didn't ask... But I personally choose to feed Flock Raiser to my mixed age and gender flock and offer oyster shell free choice on the side. Most Layer contains 4% calcium. For non laying birds such as chicks and roosters is way too much and can cause kidney issues down the line if fed long term. Also Layer usually has 16% protein which is the bare minimum. Flock raiser has 20% which helps support feather growth during molt and adolescence. I'm just guessing that roosters molt as well. He won't grow his feathers back until then.

Why did you get a rooster? Are you planning to hatch chicks?

 

[mypetsrchickens]

I bolded what I think is the crux of the problem. It's that there really isn't a problem for the birds, but it bothers you because you have different notions of how they should behave than they do.

If the birds are content, and not getting harmed, I'd leave things be. Providing hiding places is always a good idea, but overall they're never going to all be friends. Bantam Cochins are more docile and unassertive, so they tend to be at the bottom of the social structure. But, it doesn't seem to bother them. They understand someone's got to be the bottom, and they're pretty content there.

Thank you for that! I feel better about it. My husband was actually more concerned about it than I was. He is the one that wanted me to ask about it here to find out if we needed to do something different.

I was also thinking that you might keep the EE in and allow the smaller ones time alone in the outside part to familiarize themselves with their surroundings.

Also another question I am not sure has been addressed is how much room are we taking? Indoors, outdoors, roost space? Any time to free range?

I would venture a guess that it's 4 feet by 10 feet. It has 8 nesting boxes and 3 roosting bars at different heights. The fenced in area they have to roam around in all day is probably 20 by 20 or larger. I'm horrible with distances/measurements. They are outside from about 8 am until they put themselves to bed around 7 pm.