Head roo overthrown by new roo

[feather16]

I’m a little sad, my head roo, a 2yr old Orpington was soaked head to foot and a completely scabbed over comb, he’s normally very assertive and sure of himself, but when I was putting everyone to bed he was acting like a scared, beaten chicken. He wanted out of the coop the second I managed to get him inside. I know my 6month old BCM roo is the reason. So I just put Wyatt, my orp, in his own coop tonight where he promptly roosted. I’m bummed because he is the best roo to his ladies, while the new one is very aggressive while trying to mate and pretty much rapes them, I don’t know how else to explain it, eek. Any tips? Should I put the new roo to bed in his own coop? Or should I just move my older roo and his favourite hen to their own coop? This is my first time having multiple Roos so I’m not really sure how this goes down.
whew, sorry this is so long winded.

 

[janiedoe]

This is @Ridgerunner 's area of expertise.

 

[TopazMaster91]

Just a guess here, but what about giving the new dude his own living quarters, right next to/up against where the rest of the flock is (so he still sees them), until he chills out a bit with age, then trying again to have them all together? I've read that sometimes works.

 

[feather16]

That sounds like a good plan. I had to run out for my final so I just quickly put them to bed, but reeeally not happy about having Wyatt in his own. I’ll try that for tomorrow. I’m hoping it’s just teenage hormones

 

[TopazMaster91]

That sounds like a good plan. I had to run out for my final so I just quickly put them to bed, but reeeally not happy about having Wyatt in his own. I’ll try that for tomorrow. I’m hoping it’s just teenage hormones

If your older dude is an awesome rooster to the ladies, non-aggressive, and all around Best Dude I would definitely keep HIM with the girls, rather than the new kid on the block; at least until new dudes hormones chill out, then it couldn't hurt to try again, but if it were me, I'd want the tried and proven Good Guy Roo to be with my ladies .
If you have enough pullets and hens to go around, you could always give new guy a few of his own, and keep two separate flocks if you have the room.

 

[aart]

Any tips? Should I put the new roo to bed in his own coop? Or should I just move my older roo and his favourite hen to their own coop? This is my first time having multiple Roos so I’m not really sure how this goes down.
whew, sorry this is so long winded.

Depends on your long term goals.
Why do you need or want multiple males?

 

[feather16]

I don’t necessarily need or want multiple males. I bought some eggs for my broody to bring in some diversity to my small flock, one turned out to be a male. Ideally I’d like to keep him, he came from a wonderful breeder (Alchemist Farms in CA) I’m hoping they can live in harmony.

I put him in his own run/coop today, and already two girls are just sitting by the fence by him. Dang that happens quick, ha!

My older roo is still acting really strange. I guess I just feel bad for the guy, he isn’t super awesome to humans, but is a dream to his hens. Oh, the chicken drama ‍‍

 

[Ridgerunner]

What Aart asked, plus how much room do you have in the coop and run where you want to mix them? In my opinion the more room you have the better in any integration and especially in your case. I mean a lot of extra room for you.

When a cockerel matures enough it is not unusual for him to challenge the dominant rooster for flock dominance. Sometimes it can be a fairly smooth experience, sometimes a cockerel or rooster dies. Sometimes room may not matter that much but usually it is a huge criteria. Right now that cockerel probably has his hormones running wild with no control. Many do. Over time he will probably calm down, most do. But it can be rough on the pullets and hens until he does.

I can see why you want to keep the older one. At two, he is still really young and should be vigorous. I don't know how his defeat may change his behaviors. It may not but he may have lost a lot of his spirit. Time may tell.

I can see why you want to keep the young one, good bloodlines. But how important is that to your overall goals with your flock? As far as diversity goes, you could probably go four or more generations just hatching out replacement chicks from your flock until you run into genetic diversity issues, most if us can, unless you see issues with your first hatch.

One option you have is to get rid of one. That does not mean you have to kill or eat him, you can give him away or try to sell him.

Another option is that you can house one of them separate from the flock for a while. I'd choose the boy as he is less likely to behave that well with the females until he matures more. But watch to see if the others peck at the older one's wounds, they could eat him alive or kill him by making the wound much worse just because they sometimes like to peck at wounds. It doesn't really happen that much but it can. Maybe keep him separate until he heals. Eventually you can try putting them back together to see how it goes. They will probably fight but maybe not as viciously and they may make an accommodation. Maybe, especially if they have a lot of room and the cockerel has mellowed with maturity.

Or you can decide to forever have two flocks. Use fencing so they don't get together. Lots of people do that. You can even have one flock hatch and raise the other's eggs to help maintain genetic diversity for many more generations.

If you hatch eggs, you will hatch more males. You really need a long term plan for that.

 

[Henry&Friends]

I guess I just feel bad for the guy, he isn’t super awesome to humans, but is a dream to his hens. Oh, the chicken drama ‍‍

let me tell you a story about my roosters.

Henry VIII II was stunning. He was black, and reflected green if the light touched him.

Of course, he was so stunningly handsome that he became human aggressive. He beat me, my brother, and my parents, and would chase you around and around and around the house. 3 arounds, to be exact (I counted.) one day, Henry spurred the crap out of my leg and so I grabbed the nearest stick and chased him around and around. And for many weeks, I continued to chase him. Then, Henry VIII II stopped trying to fight me. I could walk wherever I’d like, pick up whichever hen I choose, and it wouldn’t matter because he would stand a few feet away and stay a few feet away. of course, he still beat up the rest of my family, but I didn’t stop him because they called me cruel for what I’d done.

So a couple of years go by with Henry VIII II terrorizing my family, and they talked about killing him but they never did.

then, we got our spring chicks. We always buy sexed chicks, Henry VIII II would be our last rooster, we said.

Well, meet Henry VIII III

Henry VIII III was handed a death sentence the second we realized he was a cockerel. I was supposed to cull him, but since I’m the only one to stand up for Henry VIII II, it’s not surprising he crows on.

On the day of the deed, I didn’t cull him. Of course I didn’t cull him, he hadn’t done anything cull-worthy The next day, I opened the coop door, and my chickens rushed out (as they do.) Something was off though, and I realized rather quickly. Henry VIII II was facefirst on the coop floor, dead. That sucked, I felt really bad about it but what can you do

now, not quite a year later, Henry VIII III has still done nothing cull-worthy. He’s never spurred a person, and I don’t think he’s even crowed at me. He tidbits his ladies everything he eats, doesn’t fight or force himself upon hens and intervenes in guinea fights. (Guineas are jerks, you can not convince me otherwise)

The moral of the story is that human aggressive roosters are already human aggressive, and young cockerels haven’t discovered themselves yet. My advice to you is to deal with your aggressive rooster— even if you don’t remove any birds, you don’t want your younger cockerel to pick up human aggressive behaviors