Do I just rehome him or replace him with a girl? Need some advice.

[MegsEggsx]

Hello all!
I have a little dilemma! I bought 3 1-week old silkies back in November 2020. I bought them from a woman that breeds and sells chicks, when we bought them she told us that if we got a boy we could return them and replace the boys for girls if we couldn't keep them (it is illegal to have roosters where I live). Well, I have known he was a cockerel for ages but he crowed for the first time today so we are taking him back this weekend. Initially, I was going to ask for a replacement but then I started thinking about how the other 2 girls would react (actually I have a total of 9 other chickens but I am mainly talking about the 2 silkie pullets) technically the newbie would be their sister but they wouldn't have seen each other since they were a week old so they wouldn't know the difference. I would like to have a 3rd silkie but if it is only going to cause stress on her and the rest of the flock I won't take her. What do you guys think? Is it worth it?

 

[DobieLover]

Hello all!
I have a little dilemma! I bought 3 1-week old silkies back in November 2020. I bought them from a woman that breeds and sells chicks, when we bought them she told us that if we got a boy we could return them and replace the boys for girls if we couldn't keep them (it is illegal to have roosters where I live). Well, I have known he was a cockerel for ages but he crowed for the first time today so we are taking him back this weekend. Initially, I was going to ask for a replacement but then I started thinking about how the other 2 girls would react (actually I have a total of 9 other chickens but I am mainly talking about the 2 silkie pullets) technically the newbie would be their sister but they wouldn't have seen each other since they were a week old so they wouldn't know the difference. I would like to have a 3rd silkie but if it is only going to cause stress on her and the rest of the flock I won't take her. What do you guys think? Is it worth it?

I wouldn't take her. It's very hard on a lone chicken to go through the integration process. If you could get 2, that would be a different story...

 

[sourland]

If it were me, I would simply take the rooster back and not deal with the problems involved with adding a new bird to the flock. Especially if it was a silky going into a flock of large fowl.

 

[MegsEggsx]

I wouldn't take her. It's very hard on a lone chicken to go through the integration process. If you could get 2, that would be a different story...

I thought of getting 2 but the coop can be a bit cramped already so I think I've crossed that off the list.

If it were me, I would simply take the rooster back and not deal with the problems involved with adding a new bird to the flock. Especially if it was a silky going into a flock of large fowl.

There are 2 other silkies but I don't know if they would accept the newbie (they are super sweet but still). Other than the silkies I have 3 bantams and 4 standards, but the bantams are much bigger bullies than the standards !

I think I will just give the rooster back but will give it some thought.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I thought of getting 2 but the coop can be a bit cramped already so I think I've crossed that off the list.

Another reason to not get another one chicken. It doesn't matter if they are blood sisters, they haven't grown up together so it is a full fledged integration of strangers. The tighter the space the harder it is to integrate. Trying to integrate one is generally harder than trying to integrate two or more, even with plenty of space. To me it is not a hard decision. But it is your decision, not mine.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I also would return the rooster without getting another.

Tight space and single bird integration is a recipe for trouble and injury.