Cockerel and chicks

[Altfrizzle]

I have a cockerel who is at the bottom of the pecking order. The other cocks keep trying to mount him. (He is very much a male). He tends to hide under the coop by himself, during the day, or goes off on his own if they're ranging.

He climbs into the nesting box with our broody hen every night.

I believe he is a frazzle, as his feathers are brittle and break off easily, but he's not bald. I was thinking, it's good he's got somebody to snuggle with now (because he used to just stick his head into the corner every night. So pathetic and sad! Sweet boy) and her eggs are all intact, so he's not squishing her/them too much.

I wonder if this is likely to be a big problem when chicks hatch, though.

Thoughts?

 

[Chicken-lovebirdchihuahua]

I think it will be ok maybe try moving her to a larger nesting box if you have one and then they will have more room just a suggestion

 

[EggSighted4Life]

How many cockerels? I would find another home or make a plan B, that's no way to live.

How many birds in how much space?

I have lower roost in my coop that birds younger or lower in the order can access. I personally would NOT allow him in with my broody. As far as I'm concerned he is probably defecating in the box and nobody needs that extra soiling. She's very likely, in my experience going to become a LOT more aggressive once she has chicks.

No way in heck would I try to move a sitting broody over a cockerel wanting to take cover, sorry. You run the risk of her abandoning the nest altogether, but of course each hen will act differently.

I keep a stag pen, separate from my ladies. Yes they do mounting antics to each other, and it always rolls down hill. But we put our extra boys in the freezer and anyone who acts out too much heads off sooner or later (no pun intended).

 

[sourland]

I would be concerned that he is defecating in the nest which may contaminate the eggs.

 

[Altfrizzle]

I have roosts at 3 different heights, which isn't the problem. The problem is he's a scaredy cock. He's hiding from the others.

I'm guessing if she gets crankier closer to due date, she will kick him out.

I'm trying to re-home some of the other cockerels (there's 4 others), but they're sweet boys and not going to freezer camp. They're just getting old enough to need flocks of their own.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Maybe put the roosters that you’re trying to rehome into a seperate pen until they’re rehomed.

 

[aart]

which isn't the problem. The problem is he's a scaredy cock. He's hiding from the others.

The problem is.... you have too many males.
They may be 'too cute'... but managing males is part of keeping chickens.
Allowing multiple males to wreak havoc on the flock is not good management.
Better get a plan in place, if you continue to hatch out more birds approximately half of them will be males.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

, but they're sweet boys and not going to freezer camp. They're just getting old enough to need flocks of their own.

Quack... sweet boys until their hormones kick in, most of the time in my experience.

What does sweet mean in a cockerel? Please describe, including age... so I can see where your coming from.

If lower roost are available where the bullies aren't, but he still chooses not to use them.. I might go place him on one personally for a few nights until he gets the message. There are many dynamics at play. I have had up to 82 birds at one time before. Those low on the pecking order usually learn to avoid roost time antics either by heading in earlier or later than others. That's awesome that you have extra roosts in place, it has been a really useful tool for me.

That boy might not be scaredy if he wasn't being harassed by so many others. My daughter and I both feel as though too much bullying can very much alter the personality of the receiver. I bet if you locked up the others and let him have some range time to himself, maybe with the ladies if they aren't beating him up to... that you would see a whole new confidence emerge. That has at least been what we have seen. And it even helped when he was returned to the stag pen. He is still low man on the totem but his demeanor is much different.

If this is your first go around with a bunch of cockerels... I have been there and it was a learning curve. What it taught me the most was... if I am going to pursue hatching or buying from breeders then I must have extra pens in place, usually by the time the hit 10 weeks old.

So, will any of your boys ever go to freezer camp or are you planning to find homes for them all if you get more in the future? Did you get them buying straight run or are you doing your own hatching?

It may be difficult, but finding homes for some can be done. Another option would be to express if they are planning to eat the boys that they don't give you any indication of it. What resources are you currently using to find homes?

 

[lazy gardener]

Here's the cockerel facts, and here's the winter facts:

People who have a cockerel, or a rooster in their flock already have one. It's winter. Not breeding season. No one is going to be looking to take a new cockerel or rooster into their flock this time of year. No one is going to want a male bird, this time of the year unless they plan to eat him. Even then, processing a roo can be more work than the benefit received from the meat, especially when faced with processing a single roo in the winter.

If you are hatching eggs in the winter, you are going to have even more crowding issues than you currently have. And at least half of those chicks will be cockerels. If you can't get rid of the extra boys now, what are you going to do with more?

Most back yard flocks do well with a single rooster (if there is even one). My EE roo easily covered 24 hens with good fertility. Keeping extra roos can result in a lot of aggression in the flock.

Even if you do get rid of the other cockerels, and keep this timid boy who is now sleeping in the nest box with the broody hen, are you wanting to breed his brittle feathers forward in your flock? Breeding decisions should be based on good genetics, not on feeling sorry for the underdog.

Allowing him to sleep in the nest box with a broody hen, will most likely eventually result in broken eggs or trampled chicks. While many roos are wonderful daddys, the likelihood of babies getting trampled is a very real risk.

IMO, one should never hatch chicks by any method unless they have a viable exit plan for the extra cockerels, and plenty of room for any pullets they choose to keep.

 

[microchick]

I agree with posts that say letting the young rooster sleep with the broody isn't a good idea and will lead to something happening sooner or later to the eggs.

I have a lot of extra roosters that are kept in a bachelor pen away from the hens. Over this past summer while dealing with broodies and chicks I had a chick get separated from it's mamma and wind up in a pen with a bachelor Welsummer rooster. I was amazed that I didn't discover a dead chick when I discovered the escapee. Nope, chick was with the rooster and the rooster was tidbitting for the baby and watching over him. Idea! I put mamma and the babies with the gentle Welsummer rooster. Suddenly, Mamma and babies had a defender. He would lead them around their little pen standing guard over them, find food for them and at night would sleep next to the hen on the floor of their coop. The rooster had a job and was very good at it.

Even after mamma went back to the flock, Daddy Doc as he is called stuck with the fledglings and daddied them in mamma's absence. He did that with two broodies and one bunch of incubator fledglings for me.

Perhaps that would be a job for your low ranking male once the chicks have hatched. Until then, move him to another pen where he won't be picked on. Another lower ranking male to keep him company.

Either way, he needs to be somewhere where he isn't abused by the other roosters. They can't all be Alpha.