Down to 1 roo, now everybody seems upset! WHY???

[Mommysongbird]

We gave away our white leghorn roo today, he is 21 or 22 weeks old (all of our birds are). We just have a smallish coop and run with 5 pullets and 2 roos, so one roo had to go. The other roo has been 'cooped' up litterely in the coop by the one that just left today, now he doesn't know what to do. Will he learn and how long will it take?

The pullets are not happy the the other roo is gone, one of them actually tried to come out of the run today and they have NEVER done that before. Why?? Are they trying to find where he went???

The roo we kept is an EE and we have 2 EE pullets, and the other 3 pullets I am not sure of. Two are black and their feathers shine green sometimes and one of them has a tuft of feathers on her head just behind her comb. The other pullet is white w/black streaks here and there on her body. She too has a tuft of feathers on her head behind her comb like the black one.

All of them are just acting different now, will this get better? Also is this going to interfere with their egg laying??? They just started laying Friday.

 

[7&8]

Chickens are social creatures. They've noticed that one of their pals is gone. The flock's social dynamic has shifted, that's all. The little roo will step up and take charge of things. Your flock will recover shortly. I predict

that by the end of the week, all will be well on the mend.

And egg laying might or might not be be slightly disrupted, but if it's affected, it will iron out, too! Keep us posted...

 

[Illia]

7&8 :

Chickens are social creatures. They've noticed that one of their pals is gone. The flock's social dynamic has shifted, that's all. The little roo will step up and take charge of things. Your flock will recover shortly. I predict

that by the end of the week, all will be well on the mend.

And egg laying might or might not be be slightly disrupted, but if it's affected, it will iron out, too! Keep us posted...

x2​

 

[gritsar]

You have upset their pecking order. It'll take them awhile - anywhere from a few days to weeks - to reorganize it. Your remaining cockerel is also confused. It will take him awhile to realize that the other roo is really gone for good and it's okay for him to take charge.

It could upset your laying, but as your birds are new to laying there's bound to be some erratic laying anyhow.

They'll figure it out. Just give them time.

 

[Mommysongbird]

I just went out to check on them, they are all in the coop, but our little EE Buffy is lying just inside the door, not in her usual spot on the roost. I don't have a way to put her up there either, will this be a problem? The temps are getting lower at night, but not too bad upper 50's to low 60's. Should I close the coop door?? We have been leaving it open since late July.