Derperella, the (weird) Faverolles, & Friends

[Nambroth]

Gullincambe is such a gorgeous roo! ... Wow is 7 girls are not enough for him I can't imagine mine with only 2 girls... I'm new in this...but cant you just make him a "bachelor pen" to put him from time to time so the girls get some rest?

He has 6 girls, but I don't think I could afford to build a predator proof pen just for him. I felt it would be rather unfair to pen him by himself as they are social animals.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I'm sorry to hear Gullincambe is roughing up the girls. I'm guessing that if the hens were to continue hanging out with him they would need protective bonnets in addition to their saddles. Too bad I have never seen anything like protective bonnets though. He is such a handsome rooster, I would take him but I am all the way in Michigan and I already have 3 roosters in a bachelor coop.

Sorry this is unsolicited advice but... I have seen your byc chicken page and noticed that you have a good sized run. Can you try dividing it using chicken wire and staple gun to limit his access to the hens even if it is only a stop gap measure. At the very least if will allow the hens to start regrowing their feathers and give you a chance to find a good new home for Gullincambe. Perhaps if the arrangement doesn't turn out to be too much of a hassle, the hens will get a chance to heal and then you can try giving him some access to the hens and try putting something bad tasting on the back of their heads to prevent continued injury. Some people use pine tar: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/453928/pine-tar-for-feather-picking

You may have already considered these options, but I just thought I would mention them.

 

[chickchicks]

hello

i do hope you can sort your problem out with gilli, he lookslike such a woderful rooster

in the mean time you could get him a toy , i read somewhere that roosters play with toys like dogs do when they want to they can use that instead of the hens .....
its only a very mild thought as it was read a while a go and sounded a little funny to me but it could be worth a try if you are really wanting something to work for the lovely boy

all the best for you both

 

[Nambroth]

scratch'n'peck and chickchicks, thank you very much for your suggestions.

Sometimes I toss (figuratively) Gullin outside the run in the mornings when I am tending to the girls, cleaning, etc... because he really hates my big boots. And he just goes out of his mind, running back and forth at the fence, crying, trying to get back in to the girls. Not because he's frisky, but he just hates having a barrier between himself and them. Sometimes he rubs the front of his comb a bit raw, and it's only for a few minutes. I wonder if he'd be okay if I separated him temporarily until we could find him a home? I hate to be cruel to him.

I have wondered if a bitterant applied to the back of the girl's heads would make him think twice? I know that there are products like Bitter Apple out there for cats and dogs. I wonder if it would hurt the girl's skin? I have some research to do.

That's a clever idea about the toy. I am not sure it would tempt him away from a live hen, but it can't hurt anything. I will see if I can get a cheap rubber ball or a dog toy that the girls won't try to eat pieces off of.

Back to our regularly scheduled Derp soon, I promise!

 

[Desirai]

Sad that you are having issues with your roo! It's always heartbreaking when you have to rehome a pet.

But true, like the others said, perhaps some sort of temporary pen or barrier would give the hens some time to grow their feathers back and heal.

Is there a way you can get some sort of little chicken hat for them so he can't pull out their feathers?

Or.. is there a way to get a rooster fixed? Like a cat or dog?

 

[chickchicks]

ive took a look i think the rooster with a toy came from a conversation on here but i will be a while searching for it .

inthe mean time i took a quick google search and found this website showing all ways to entertain chickens maybe something on here could help keep him occupied ...there is also asmallvideo of aroosterdancing to stuffed toys!!! we may be onto something

http://www.squidoo.com/Chicken_Toys

 

[scratch'n'peck]

There are some hilarious videos on that chicken toy site.

 

[canesisters]

Just a thought - if he rubs himself raw on wire seperating him from the hens .. how about plexiglass or something like that - at least on the bottom part of a partition? Or how about some of thos clear roofing panels? It wouldn't have to be real strong.. and if it's clear (so he could SEE the girls), it might not have to be real tall - you could put plain chicken wire for the part taller than his head.

 

[Pharm Girl]

I've had to re-home two roosters due to urban living and it isn't easy, but if you can find a nice home, it's really not too bad. My first Roo went to a very nice free-range fertile egg breeder/seller that used him to fertilize the ladies. I'm sure he was in heaven and the farmer promised he will let him live many years. The second roo was Nando who was much harder to give up, but if you read the last of his thread, I did find him a good home where he is very well cared for and I get the occasional update or picture which is nice.
I'm sure if the previous posters 'egg'celent suggestions don't work out, you can find him just the right place with a little patience and hard work. I made potential takers send me pictures of their set-ups. It really weeded out a lot of people that I wouldn't have wanted taking him anyway.

 

[Pele]

Quote:

I'm sorry you're having to go through all this Nambroth. I do however think you are on to something here. I don't know if birds can taste bitter flavors (I know they can't taste capsaicin), but I do know that chickens hate hate HATE the taste of mustard! I've seen it used and mentioned in a number of chicken publications to prevent chickens from getting mouthfuls of things they shouldn't (like training them off of egg eating).

It may seem silly, but you might want to get a mild mustard (don't want to irritate the girls' skin), and put it on the back of their heads. Who knows, it might put Gullin straight off of hair-grabbing for good!

I'm rooting for you either way