found 4 abandoned leghorn roosters.........

[pinkchick]

Late the night before last I was called by a friend of my mom and she lives at the end of a local logging road and she told me that as she and her neighbor were on their nightly walk they found 4 roosters abandoned in a cardboard box, she was able to catch them and asked if I could do anything with them. WELL>>>>>>>what to do with 4 roosters. They seem to be very young maybe two or three months old. I was able to re-home three of them with the help of the local humane society, but now I am left with mr. foghorn. I have six laying hens that are two years old. Can I introduce him to the flock? How should this be done if I can and what should I expect from my hens? Thanks in advance for the wisdom.

Oh!!!! almost forgot .........when do hens stop laying? I was told that they will stop at 2 1/2 years old this doesn't sound right to me but I do not know enough about this to prompt me to purchase new chicks yet? Should I get new chicks going?

 

[okiehen]

Is he crowing yet? And how big is he in comparison to your hens he should be okay to go in with them. As long as he is not little bitty.
No help on your hens laying , I know that older hens will still lay just not as often.
Best of luck and the best thing you could do is put him in a small pen in your hen coop for a day or so them let him in with them.
He will be in rooster bliss.

 

[pinkchick]

he is about over half but not quite 2/3 of my hens sizes. yes he is cockadoodledooooing but he needs to beef up his skill, ha ha .........thanks so much.

 

[Acre of Blessings]

If you can section off a small area of you coop to keep him in, that will give your girls a chance to see him. After about a week of that introduce him to the girls by letting him out, only while your there, and let him run with the girls. After about a week of this he shoud be fine. I have 1 WL roo, so this is what I had to do.
Also you hens will lay good the 1st year and the % rate of laying will slack off up to about 3 years and after that it a good time to consider a hot pot of chicken and dumplins'.

 

[allen wranch]

I have hens 3, 4 and 5 1/2 years old. Some lay every other day, a few others 2-3 eggs per week, and some less. However, they are all still laying.

My birds are pets, so I am running an assisted living facility for older hens, in addition to my other featherd pets.

 

[KrisRose]

2 to 3 months is a best age to introduce a roo to mature hens. He is still smaller then the hens which is good, so don't section him off. He's younger and quicker and can get out of the way. The girls will beat him up and reject him at first, this helps teach them "manners" around the ladies.
Hens slow down with their laying after a couple of years.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Quote:
That's what we plan to do. (But since we're addicted to regular eggs now, we may build a second coop and get a few more chicks in two years.)


By the way PinkChick - saving those roos has made you a hero in BYC. I'm glad you found homes for them!

 

[pinkchick]

Thank you! ..........New Question ? Mr. Foghorn seems to like to FLY to the top of the fence........as he wobbles too and fro, swaying hilariously like a COO-COO clock for a couple of minutes...Humm?, if that was me swaying up there like that ..I'd be swoozy in my stomach and fall off.. anyway, I'm worried that he may not jump back into the coop-yard but rather into the main yard where the other zoo inhabitants roam freely and may want to test the phrase " Delicious and nutritious...tastes just like CHICKEN."

Should I clip his wing or wings, to prevent him from getting to the top of the fencing?


Thanks

 

[pinkchick]

By the way , I am a "NEW EGG" to the chicken thing.

2 weeks ago, a neighbor a few miles down the hill was thinning her flock and asked me as she had heard that I was looking for some laying hens not to eat, but to eat their eggs. I jumped on it and have found it refreshing to watch them get used to their new chicken ranch, establish a new pecking order......and running out to see if there's any new eggs...(obsessed rather). Feverishly working on building a chicken coop any spare moment I had. The neighbor was only going to hold them so long.
LOL! My husband refers to himself as "Chicken WIDOW" but is totally cool with it and walks out to the coop every night with me on our evening stroll through the property. When he thinks I'm in front of the coop- yard looking at the chickens .....I see him open the hatch doors looking for eggs. PRICELESS!!!!

I am enjoying reading and learning everything I've seen here on BYC.

 

[JaciesCoop]

Just a little note for you. Leghorn roos can be very aggressive. I know. I have one. henry. As soon as he becomes used to the fact that he is proud owner of some hens he will take over. Henry is not aggressive to the girls, just to everyone else. Not with me so much but it does make it difficult to interact with the girls unless I lock him up. They are not "user friendly! LOL!

Jacie