ee roo or pullet

[mama of 4 girls]

Wyandottes7, with this one turning out to be male, we only have 7 hens. So I guess he'll have to go right? My children are begging for me to keep him to see if he'll turn out "mean". I don't know what to just yet. We, like most others, got them for eggs and fun. Too bad it was an ee that is a boy. We were really looking forward to the colored eggs. We have only 1 ee pulley now with the others being a pair of barred rock, pair of buff orps, and a pair of australorps. Any other advice you have to offer is much appreciated, as I'm torn over what to do about him.

 

[lightchick]

No! 7 hens is fine! Most people say 1 roo per 4-6 hens. I think it'll be fine. If your going to keep him I'd start training him early that it's NOT ok to peck people or even crow in front of you.
I'd keep him. He might turn out to be a perfect sweetie. If he does start being mean then maybe your kids will understand. I doubt that they'll like being chased or pecked.

 

[mama of 4 girls]

Thanks, lightchick! You offer sensible advice. I appreciate it!!

 

[mama of 4 girls]

Thanks, lightchick! You offer sensible advice. I appreciate it!! But how do you train him not to peck or crow in front of people?

 

[lightchick]

Well. There's this really good article.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/316084/australorps-breed-thread/6610
The article is on post 6617 by ronott1.

I think that may be a little over board when he's still nice. So if he even pecks you or your kids I tap him firmly on the beak or body and say no. If he crows I'd tap him hard/firmly.
If he starts being more aggressive then I think it'd be the time to be more strict.
I hope this helps!

 

[BantamLover21]

Yes, that is a cockerel. Sorry...

 

[KieksterChicken]

The method in the link may work for some but the method I use of holding my rooster down has worked like a charm. I tried a modified method to the one in the link and it didn't work as the rooster just mistook it for another rooster battling him so he was ready and primed for battle anytime someone entered the chicken run with a broom or pole lol!. When my rooster tries to get pushy or try to "fight" with me I gently snatch him up by the legs and carefully lay him on his side on the ground with my other hand carefully pinning his free wing to his side. and hold his legs until he stops fidgeting. Then I just keep my hand on his legs, and carefully use my other hand to pin his head to the ground ( when you do this a chicken/rooster can't get up or do anything)..very carefully of course and not pushing hard..just enough pressure to keep him from raising his head. Then I slowly release my hand from his neck while continuing to gently hold his legs. If he looks up glaring at me and doing his rooster growl thing or begins to fidget I gently put my hand back on his neck and carefully hold his head down to the ground again. If I lift up my hand from his neck and he turns his head to glare at me or he fidgets I again gently pin his head. Usually by the second time pinning his head I can let go of him and stand up and he won't get up (he'll even keep his head down) until I touch him gently with my foot or hand and tell him he can go. Lol. He is pretty funny to watch.I only have to do that maybe once a month if that and for the most part he stays away from me and my children.
My rooster Pretty Boy (or Dummy if he is being aggressive). Ideal hatchery Dark Cornish rooster. 1 years and 3 months old.

 

[lightchick]

The method in the link may work for some but the method I use of holding my rooster down has worked like a charm. I tried a modified method to the one in the link and it didn't work as the rooster just mistook it for another rooster battling him so he was ready and primed for battle anytime someone entered the chicken run with a broom or pole lol!. When my rooster tries to get pushy or try to "fight" with me I gently snatch him up by the legs and carefully lay him on his side on the ground with my other hand carefully pinning his free wing to his side. and hold his legs until he stops fidgeting. Then I just keep my hand on his legs, and carefully use my other hand to pin his head to the ground ( when you do this a chicken/rooster can't get up or do anything)..very carefully of course and not pushing hard..just enough pressure to keep him from raising his head. Then I slowly release my hand from his neck while continuing to gently hold his legs. If he looks up glaring at me and doing his rooster growl thing or begins to fidget I gently put my hand back on his neck and carefully hold his head down to the ground again. If I lift up my hand from his neck and he turns his head to glare at me or he fidgets I again gently pin his head. Usually by the second time pinning his head I can let go of him and stand up and he won't get up (he'll even keep his head down) until I touch him gently with my foot or hand and tell him he can go. Lol. He is pretty funny to watch.I only have to do that maybe once a month if that and for the most part he stays away from me and my children.
My rooster Pretty Boy (or Dummy if he is being aggressive). Ideal hatchery Dark Cornish rooster. 1 years and 3 months old.

You have very advice too.

 

[mama of 4 girls]

Thanks KieksterChicken and lightchick! We have decided to keep him and see how he turns out. I feel better knowing that we have a plan if he starts to exhibit aggression. Thought about getting another ee pullet of the same age from a local woman, but after reading some of the horror stories about people introducing adult birds into their flocks have changed my mind. I think we'll wait and order another ee in the winter or perhaps see if we can get a chick from our remaining ee. But I don't know anything about that =) how do you know if the egg is fertilized? We've built roll away nest boxes so how would I get my girl to sit on the eggs? Is it ok to remove some eggs so that she doesn't hatch too many chicks? We have a little more room for additions but I can't be overrun by chickens. What started off as a little project turned into a full summer job for my husband lol! I'm probably getting ahead of myself because my girls haven't even started laying yet=)

 

[KieksterChicken]

Hens will usually just lay an egg and then get up and go about their normal chicken routine of eating, scratching, dust bathing and begging for treats when humans get near the run. Sometimes a hen will go broody. When a hen goes broody her hormone levels change and she basically goes into egg sitting mode. A broody hen will spend most of her time on the nest on the eggs only getting up to get a quick drink and eat a bit and then will be back on the nest..night and day. If you let her sit on the fertilized eggs they will eventually hatch and you will have a coop filled with cuteness overload. If a chicken isn't broody she won't sit on the eggs and there is no way you can make her sit long enough on the nest to hatch the eggs out. As far as introducing new chickens to your flock..it doesn't matter whether the chicken is a few months old or a year, you still have to proceed the same way to introduce them. There are several ways to do it which you can read up on this site. My adventure in introducing two new chicks to my flock was interesting to say the least. I bought two day old EE pullets and kept them in the brooder (plastic swimming pool lined with newspapers topped with pine shavings and a brooding lamp for warmth) until they were fully feathered. Then I kept them in the chicken run in a separate pen for 2 weeks and fed my older bigger flock at the pen so the 2 EE's could share the food (which was half on their side and half on the older chickens side) but not be attacked by the older hens. At the end of 2 weeks I let the EE's out to mingle with the flock supervised by me for about an hour a day and would keep them in their own pen at night. This worked for a week with no incident so one day I left the 2 EE's unsupervised in the run with the main flock for 4 or 5 hours and when I got back discovered the hens had trapped them in the coop in a corner and were literally trying to kill the 2 new EE's. I quickly got them out and treated them..the one had 2 tail feathers left and a completely bare torn up bloody back. The other one just lost a few feathers but was otherwise unscathed : ( Rotten older hens! I kept them separate from the flock another 3 weeks until they were healed up and then started from square one with supervised mingling etc. They were bullied a lot. It took 3 months from the time the chicks feathered out and were outside in their pen until the older chickens would allow them to roost in the hen house with them without trying to kill them, so fully integrating them took 3 months. My suggestion to you is for you to search Backyard Chickens for the answers to all your questions becuase this site has a ton of info. Also, if you want to add to your flock by using chicks that you bought make sure you have at least 2. 1 chick by itself won't do well. If you want to add an older pullet you will still have to keep it quarantined from your main flock several weeks to ensure it is disease and parasite free and then you have to very cautiously introduce it to your flock using whatever method you choose. You will find several methods described on this site. Whatever you do though, don't just put your chicks or older pullets in with the established older flock on day 1 and expect everything will be hunky dory becuase 99 out of 100 times it won't be. As far as chicks one of your own broody hens hatches, if you set up the nesting box and coop properly you can let her hatch them with the rest of the flock around and she will protect them from the rest of the flock and integration of the chicks happens naturally. There is also a technique some people use in which they introduce store bought or hatchery shipped baby chicks to a broody hen by sneaking them into the nest. Sometimes the hen will accept them as hers and do her mother chicken duties. You can read up on this technique on this site also. So mainly, read as much as you can on this site about chicken care etc., educate yourself about chickens, ask questions you have in the right places on the forums ( people will be happy to help) and I think you'll do fine. Sorry for this huge post. Hope it helps you out though.