Future Roosters

[MotherHen75]

I have a flock of 6 chickens and a rooster. One of my hens is brooding and sitting on 6 eggs. The rooster is a big rhode island red, we had two roosters before he killed them. If he chicks hatch i know the rooster is supposed to protect them, which i know he will, he’s a very loyal rooster. But, what if one of the chicks turn out to be male, will he kill it? Even if it’s his own chick?

 

[Ridgerunner]

You are dealing with living animals, no one can give you any guarantees as to how they will behave. I've never had a mature dominant rooster harm one any chick, his or some other rooster's, but some people I trust on here say they have. I think how much room they have has a lot to do with that but even with wide open spaces anything is possible.

I have a lot of room and I typically raise my cockerels with the main flock until they are butcher size, typically around 23 weeks for me. What normally happens is that the chicks are fine, male or female, though they stay by themselves away from the main flock after the broody hen weans them. When the cockerels hit puberty and their hormones drive them wild they start trying to mate the pullets they were raised with. The pullets don't want them to so they run away. It can get pretty hectic. My adult rooster pretty much ignores this. But when those cockerels start to bother one of his hens he really objects. That's practically always just running and chasing, no real fights, but I have enough room that the cockerels can run away and get away.

Each chicken has its own personality. It is possible your RIR wouldn't stop until he killed a rival. It's even possible he would harm a chick though the other hens are most likely a bigger danger. My broody hens handle that.

You never know how many eggs will hatch. You never know how many will be male or female. With your history I'd have a plan to manage any cockerels from that hatch by the time they hit puberty. Good luck!

 

[meetthebubus]

I hatched a chick but kept it seperate in a see no touch for around 5 to 6 weeks and my rooster never killed before but I still used that precaution bc
They could simply peck them and that could kill them when they are little

The rooster tid bits a treat and can get mad at the babies who respond bc he wants to give it to a hen

Other hens could kill even on accident

My opinion is to keep separate my mama hen stepped on the chick 2 times by accident he didn't get hurt but he soon learned to stay away from the feet and chirp shrilly and run to alert

 

[MotherHen75]

We have five acres, they are free range. Plenty of space. But they have been staying near our house recently. We even have two coups, one for the broody hen (it’s a smaller one), and another for the others.

And just so you know how protective and loyal he is about his ladies, recently a hen flew into the neighbors yard and got killed by dogs. Ever since then, he does not let the hens go near that fence. When they do, he runs at them at full speed and leads them away.

When the chicks hatch we will probably keep them in the smaller coup, but the nesting boxes are too high for them to get in and out of. We will probably buy one of those little wooden nest boxes, and put it in the run.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My broody hens do not take their chicks back to a nest, they just cover them on the coop floor, usually in a corner. If you want to you can provide a nest. The broody hen might or might not use it.