Flock Advice (Too Many Roosters)

[fenixsk]

We have four 18-week old white leghorn mixes (3 pullets and 1 cockerel), as well as three 14-week old Easter Eggers (2 cockerels and 1 pullet). They all stay in the same coop, but when they free-range the leghorns stay together, and the EEs keep to themselves in a separate flock. They all come back to the coop together in the evening and there haven't been any fights. Lately one of the EE cockerels has started to be aggressive with the leghorn hens, so the time has come to separate them. I would like to keep one rooster in the flock (the leghorn), so I will be giving the two EE roosters away. My question is, will the lone EE pullet be accepted into the other flock, or should I try to find two other pullets her age and pull them into the flock as well? Maybe I'm just over-thinking it, but it seems like she will be lonely when her brothers are gone haha.

 

[aart]

Hmmm, that's a toughy.
Just went thru this, broody chicks integrated into flock, 3 of 4 were males and had to leave.
The remaining pullet had a bit of a tough time, and still somewhat a loner, but she's OK.

 

[LaFleche]

After moving the EE cockerels on, you could start by putting one of the leghorn pullets with the lonely EE in the EE coop for a week or two. Then add another leghorn pullet to the EE coop and wait two or three weeks before bringing them all together with the leghorn cockerel.

 

[Ridgerunner]

So they free range during the day and sleep in the same coop at night. Likely not on the same roosts? You'll have one pullet left by herself. Basically she is accepted right now by the others but with that maturity difference shed's not welcome into the clique. I don't think you are in a bad place but having just one will make it trickier.

I would not get any more chickens. You'd have to start over with an integration that way, I think you'd lose ground. I think bringing in more would complicate it, not simplify anything. And that's not even considering quarantine.

My first effort would be to leave everything alone when you remove those two boys. Go by what you see but give them every chance to work it out on their own. Often it is that easy. Being alone she may want to join the others day or at night. They may let her do either or both or they may not. I'd expect her to stay in their general area during the day but maybe stay a little separate.

My goal in this kind of stuff is that no one gets injured. As long as she is not injured I'd leave it up to them to work it out. You do need to observe, you may need to intervene. But as long as she is not getting injured I think you are quite successful. When she matures she will join the flock as a full member.

 

[fenixsk]

Not sure if anyone is interested, but I traded two young EE cockerel for two silkies pullets, and introduced them to my flock to help my EE pullet deal with the loss of her brothers. I separated the EE, and put the two silkies in the pen with her. The first day she spent some time making sure they knew she was above them in the pecking order, but since then they have made their own little sub-flock, and are the best of friends. They now free-range with the older pullets, and the transition could not have gone smoother.

 

[Kris5902]

Sounds like you got a good outcome! I wouldn’t have chosen silkies myself to put in with the flock mix you had, but if it’s working then you can’t really complain! I agree with your gut decision of adding more pullets to ease the integration, sometimes a big change is easier than a slight one for flock dynamics, hopefully they all come together a bit more as they age, but chickens can be quite racist to one another (for lack of a better way to describe it) especially if there is just an odd one out. I always try to keep at least pairs in my mixed flocks. Also some Roosters I’ve noticed have definite “preferences” towards a certain type of hens, and not always what you would first assume with “like to like” within breeds.

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

Maybe you could get more pullets and add another coop to separate them with 1 or two roosters and 5+ hens per coop?