A little background: I have five hens that will be a year old in May. They're all happily laying. I have one Plymouth Barred Rock, one Silver-Laced Wyandotte, one Blue-laced Red Wyandotte, one Blue Cochin and one Silver-laced Cochin. They all get along reasonably well and have a fairly gentle pecking order.
Fast forward a bit: I purchased two young 'pullets' in October. I guesstimated their ages to have been about 12 weeks old. They're likely six to seven months old now. One Blue Marans and one Salmon Faverolle. They have been under quarantine for a very long time (since October) because they got very sick and I nearly lost them. They've been treated and tested for MG. They're healthy and symptom free at this point. Side note, the Salmon Faverolle is actually a cockerel rather than a pullet. I wasn't thrilled with that discovery, but no biggie. He's a super sweet, gentle and adorable cockerel.
So far, I have set them up in two tractors, side by side, so that they could see each other for a handful of hours a day for a handful of days. Then came the placement of the two new interlopers in the coop, on a roost, in the wee dark hours of the night. I woke up EARLY the next morning to let them out of the coop and spend a few hours monitoring behavior and ensuring any bloodshed was immediately addressed. It seemed like all was going as well as can be expected, so I felt safe leaving them for a while to run errands. I came home a few hours later and the Marans' comb was bleeding profusely. I promptly treated it and dyed it so they wouldn't continue to pick at it. The cockerel was shoved in a corner of the run with his head buried in the straw.
Fast forward a few days later. The Marans is still working on the pecking order, but she is otherwise part of the flock and even puts herself to bed at night in the coop. She has a good start in figuring out how things work. The cockerel, named Benny Hill, found himself bullied relentlessly into the corner of the run, on the side that rain comes in. It was pouring rain and he was soaked to the skin. I set up a plastic bin in his favorite corner with some straw in the hopes that he could have a dry spot to hang out. Well, the original five chased him out and scratched out all the straw. I found him hiding under a pallet roost on the other side of the run, with his head buried in the straw in terror. Needless to say, his integration to the flock has not gone so well. I brought him in the house, blow dried him off and let him spend the night in the laundry room (his original quarantine spot).
Benny is the absolute sweetest bird I have ever seen. He is calm, docile and dare I say, snugly. I would really like to integrate him with the girls, but at this point, I'm at a loss for ideas. I want him to be my flock boy. He's beautiful. He's chill. He will sit on the couch next to me and preen or take a nap. I want a nice rooster that I don't have to worry about attacks and stew pots.
My next thought is to place him in his own mini coop immediately next to the big coop and have him spend some time there for a while. I'm just not sure how long would be enough. I'm not sure what else to do! Any thoughts or recommendations? Have any of you tried to integrate a docile cockerel into a coop of bossier hens?
Thanks a bunch for your thoughtful input. Please enlighten me! =) Here is my sweet Benny post blow dry spa treatment, with comb dyed to help prevent additional pecking.
Fast forward a bit: I purchased two young 'pullets' in October. I guesstimated their ages to have been about 12 weeks old. They're likely six to seven months old now. One Blue Marans and one Salmon Faverolle. They have been under quarantine for a very long time (since October) because they got very sick and I nearly lost them. They've been treated and tested for MG. They're healthy and symptom free at this point. Side note, the Salmon Faverolle is actually a cockerel rather than a pullet. I wasn't thrilled with that discovery, but no biggie. He's a super sweet, gentle and adorable cockerel.
So far, I have set them up in two tractors, side by side, so that they could see each other for a handful of hours a day for a handful of days. Then came the placement of the two new interlopers in the coop, on a roost, in the wee dark hours of the night. I woke up EARLY the next morning to let them out of the coop and spend a few hours monitoring behavior and ensuring any bloodshed was immediately addressed. It seemed like all was going as well as can be expected, so I felt safe leaving them for a while to run errands. I came home a few hours later and the Marans' comb was bleeding profusely. I promptly treated it and dyed it so they wouldn't continue to pick at it. The cockerel was shoved in a corner of the run with his head buried in the straw.
Fast forward a few days later. The Marans is still working on the pecking order, but she is otherwise part of the flock and even puts herself to bed at night in the coop. She has a good start in figuring out how things work. The cockerel, named Benny Hill, found himself bullied relentlessly into the corner of the run, on the side that rain comes in. It was pouring rain and he was soaked to the skin. I set up a plastic bin in his favorite corner with some straw in the hopes that he could have a dry spot to hang out. Well, the original five chased him out and scratched out all the straw. I found him hiding under a pallet roost on the other side of the run, with his head buried in the straw in terror. Needless to say, his integration to the flock has not gone so well. I brought him in the house, blow dried him off and let him spend the night in the laundry room (his original quarantine spot).
Benny is the absolute sweetest bird I have ever seen. He is calm, docile and dare I say, snugly. I would really like to integrate him with the girls, but at this point, I'm at a loss for ideas. I want him to be my flock boy. He's beautiful. He's chill. He will sit on the couch next to me and preen or take a nap. I want a nice rooster that I don't have to worry about attacks and stew pots.
My next thought is to place him in his own mini coop immediately next to the big coop and have him spend some time there for a while. I'm just not sure how long would be enough. I'm not sure what else to do! Any thoughts or recommendations? Have any of you tried to integrate a docile cockerel into a coop of bossier hens?
Thanks a bunch for your thoughtful input. Please enlighten me! =) Here is my sweet Benny post blow dry spa treatment, with comb dyed to help prevent additional pecking.
