Dead hen raises questions about rooster management

[flickerfarkle]

I have two jumbo brown breeding pens, one with five hens and one roo, and another that until today was four hens and a roo. Now #2 is down to three hens.

Earlier this week I noticed one of the hens in breeding pen #2 had a spot picked bald on the back of her head -- feathers plucked but skin not pecked through -- so I know that rooster can be a little rough. However, that wasn't the bird I found dead this evening. The back of the dead bird's head was unremarkable (but she was missing an eye).

So I know that the rooster in #2 can get a little overly rambunctious but I don't know that he killed her. What I do know is now there are only three hens left to share in his affections.

I have nine-day-old chicks in the brooder so it'll be about five weeks before I can have replacement hens to bring breeding cage #2 back up to full strength on hens. But I also have a pen with five (seemingly) healthy hens.

Since this was my first flock, I also kept a spare rooster in the "on deck circle" in case either of the chosen stud roosters were shooting blanks, but the first batch of eggs collected & incubated from these two breeding pens after I had introduced the roosters had a 67% hatch rate, which was 7% better than what I had from the original eggs (a line of JMF cotournix selectively bred for several years at a nearby hatchery).

So what's my best move? Do I spare the three remaining hens in pen #2 and isolate their rooster until I can get two more hens for him? Or do I slaughter all four of them, and replace them with six fresh birds in five weeks time? Because if I take their rooster away, I'll be feeding all four for more than a month for no return.

Do I move a hen from breeding pen #1 into pen #2, putting the hen total in both breeding pens at 4? I see the rooster in pen #1 chasing a hen furiously at times, and the hens often have the feathers mussed on the back of their heads, but I've not yet seen one picked bare.

Or do I put the spare rooster in breeding pen #2 to see if he's any gentler?

I've got 36 chicks in the brooder (the first batch from these hens), and 55 eggs in the incubator (second batch), so I won't be "bird-poor" for very long. In five weeks time I could replace every quail in both breeding pens and still have two dozen to slaughter. But these hens have been good producers, usually laying nine eggs per day (from nine hens) and sometimes ten. Even without the second breeding pen, the hens from pen #1 alone will lay enough eggs in 10 days to fill my incubator to ~90% capacity, so completely clearing out pen #2 wouldn't set back my breeding program that much.

I'm only beginning to understand how little I know about raising quail, so I have to ask. If they were your birds, what would you do?

 

[CliftonQuail]

I would probably put the spare rooster in with the three hens and maybe move a hen from the other pen so your numbers are even. Since you're raising a bunch of chicks, I suspect you already have extra cages? If so, I'd suggest waiting till dark and moving all of the birds that you want to combine into a new cage, then move the suspect rooster into the bachelor pad (or the freezer). If you move them in the dark, sunrise will have them in a new location together and they may not fight as much.

 

[Nabiki]

If you're worried about fertility, the eggs from your current hens will still be fertile for another week or two even without the roo.

Personally, I would not keep an aggressive or rough roo. I would replace him. If you are concerned about feeding hens that won't be producing fertile eggs, then you may want to just replace the whole group. If you just want eggs for eating, though, they will still be laying.

 

[Pipsnchicks]

I have two jumbo brown breeding pens, one with five hens and one roo, and another that until today was four hens and a roo. Now #2 is down to three hens.

Earlier this week I noticed one of the hens in breeding pen #2 had a spot picked bald on the back of her head -- feathers plucked but skin not pecked through -- so I know that rooster can be a little rough. However, that wasn't the bird I found dead this evening. The back of the dead bird's head was unremarkable (but she was missing an eye).

So I know that the rooster in #2 can get a little overly rambunctious but I don't know that he killed her. What I do know is now there are only three hens left to share in his affections.

I have nine-day-old chicks in the brooder so it'll be about five weeks before I can have replacement hens to bring breeding cage #2 back up to full strength on hens. But I also have a pen with five (seemingly) healthy hens.

Since this was my first flock, I also kept a spare rooster in the "on deck circle" in case either of the chosen stud roosters were shooting blanks, but the first batch of eggs collected & incubated from these two breeding pens after I had introduced the roosters had a 67% hatch rate, which was 7% better than what I had from the original eggs (a line of JMF cotournix selectively bred for several years at a nearby hatchery).

So what's my best move? Do I spare the three remaining hens in pen #2 and isolate their rooster until I can get two more hens for him? Or do I slaughter all four of them, and replace them with six fresh birds in five weeks time? Because if I take their rooster away, I'll be feeding all four for more than a month for no return.

Do I move a hen from breeding pen #1 into pen #2, putting the hen total in both breeding pens at 4? I see the rooster in pen #1 chasing a hen furiously at times, and the hens often have the feathers mussed on the back of their heads, but I've not yet seen one picked bare.

Or do I put the spare rooster in breeding pen #2 to see if he's any gentler?

I've got 36 chicks in the brooder (the first batch from these hens), and 55 eggs in the incubator (second batch), so I won't be "bird-poor" for very long. In five weeks time I could replace every quail in both breeding pens and still have two dozen to slaughter. But these hens have been good producers, usually laying nine eggs per day (from nine hens) and sometimes ten. Even without the second breeding pen, the hens from pen #1 alone will lay enough eggs in 10 days to fill my incubator to ~90% capacity, so completely clearing out pen #2 wouldn't set back my breeding program that much.

I'm only beginning to understand how little I know about raising quail, so I have to ask. If they were your birds, what would you do?

I would check a few things. First, is it the other hens? Sometimes the hens can be just as aggressive as the rooster, and changing out to a calmer rooster would make the situation worse. However, if it's the rooster, I'd cull and swap them out right away. Behavior is absolutely genetic and chicks that hatch from him are more likely to be as aggressive. I would separate out the rooster and just watch the hens. If there's not any issues with just the hens themselves, then officially cull the first rooster and swap with the second. By then, even if you have issues with the second, your next batch should be up and coming and you can get an idea of other replacement roosters.

 

[Pipsnchicks]

I would probably put the spare rooster in with the three hens and maybe move a hen from the other pen so your numbers are even. Since you're raising a bunch of chicks, I suspect you already have extra cages? If so, I'd suggest waiting till dark and moving all of the birds that you want to combine into a new cage, then move the suspect rooster into the bachelor pad (or the freezer). If you move them in the dark, sunrise will have them in a new location together and they may not fight as much.

I would be a bit cautious about moving the other pen around if they're laying and doing well. The last thing you would want is to short the rooster in pen 1 and accidentally cause issues in both pens. But you absolutely could, just be careful to watch them closely.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Welcome to the soap opera! Quail are best moved en masse socially, not to say you can’t rearrange things but with certain birds it can be tough! I have 3 breeding pens with 4-5 hens and a rooster, one pen I had culled a suddenly mean bird a few weeks back and then had another with a catastrophic prolapse so down to 3 hens. I have some 7 week old hens I thought to replace them with, not so much! Two o those hens are now psycho and only like each other and the other freaks out if placed with EB birds (she’s EB but raised with pharoah). Ended up selling the naughty pair to someone, putting the young hens with another rooster as a group, and put the spare EB in with an assortment of non-EB leftover birds. They are fun but drive one nuts! Also, life is too short to keep birds that like drama, if they are mean or psycho it is a reason to cull. My psycho pen is much calmer now that I moved those 3 trouble makers (3/5!).

 

[Pipsnchicks]

Welcome to the soap opera! Quail are best moved en masse socially, not to say you can’t rearrange things but with certain birds it can be tough! I have 3 breeding pens with 4-5 hens and a rooster, one pen I had culled a suddenly mean bird a few weeks back and then had another with a catastrophic prolapse so down to 3 hens. I have some 7 week old hens I thought to replace them with, not so much! Two o those hens are now psycho and only like each other and the other freaks out if placed with EB birds (she’s EB but raised with pharoah). Ended up selling the naughty pair to someone, putting the young hens with another rooster as a group, and put the spare EB in with an assortment of non-EB leftover birds. They are fun but drive one nuts! Also, life is too short to keep birds that like drama, if they are mean or psycho it is a reason to cull. My psycho pen is much calmer now that I moved those 3 trouble makers (3/5!).

Quail being a mini soap opera is so accurate XD

 

[flickerfarkle]

Welcome to the soap opera! Quail are best moved en masse socially, not to say you can’t rearrange things but with certain birds it can be tough! I have 3 breeding pens with 4-5 hens and a rooster, one pen I had culled a suddenly mean bird a few weeks back and then had another with a catastrophic prolapse so down to 3 hens. I have some 7 week old hens I thought to replace them with, not so much! Two o those hens are now psycho and only like each other and the other freaks out if placed with EB birds (she’s EB but raised with pharoah). Ended up selling the naughty pair to someone, putting the young hens with another rooster as a group, and put the spare EB in with an assortment of non-EB leftover birds. They are fun but drive one nuts! Also, life is too short to keep birds that like drama, if they are mean or psycho it is a reason to cull. My psycho pen is much calmer now that I moved those 3 trouble makers (3/5!).

I had to read that a couple of times before the significance to my situation sank in.

I might still just chuck three new hens in that pen to see how it plays out, but in any case I'll hold off on slaughtering all the rest that I'm brooding now in case that doesn't work out, and be prepared to "retire" the four birds now in Breeding Pen #2 replace them with seven fresh birds (6+1) that were brooded together.