Help! Chicken Game of Thrones! Who do I put where?

[TinaMarieofFL]

For the record I did not say to murder them. However if you dont have the time or energy to prevent them from murdering your hens then you will have a bigger problem. You can rehome or trade. There is a rehoming thread and I suggest you use it. If you are not prepared to handle the problem yourself then no one can help you. I realize you love your birds but if you can not pick up the hammer and refuse to pick up the axe it's time to have them pack their bags and move. I apologize for not sugar coating it but reality is just that.

Painful truth.

 

[GuineaFowling]

I think it’s important to understand that a quick death is far better than a lifetime of misery. I had to have my boys who I couldn’t find homes for culled because it was that or dropping them off at my local feed store where people are known to purchase cheap roosters to use as cockfighters or bait birds. It sounds like none of your birds are happy right now. Especially if they’re acting neurotic and have so many missing feathers. Imagine the stress they’re in.
The only other solution is to build a brand new bachelor coop and house your extra males in there away from the hens and pullets.

My chickens bring me nothing but joy and it’s concerning that yours don’t. My birds are all friendly and tame of course so that helps. You can tame your petrified hens by hand feeding them treats. It’ll take time but I’ve done it countless times and it’s a very rewarding experience.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

My DD and I have a joint poultry project. DD feels like you do about the cockerels, and I’m a vegetarian! Nonetheless, we both love hatching eggs and chicks.... We were giving away cockerels to local free rangers who maintain a lot of Roos for protection/ hawk bait. However, now we have Marek’s disease so we no longer rehome. Last year’s Christmas present to DD was a rooster bachelor pad, coop and run, which she and I made. That’s worked out well for last years cockerels that DD fell in love with. However, we’ve bred more chickens this year, and again have excess cockerels. The already occupied bachelor pad was expensive to build and time consuming, and we can’t rehome, so that left few options beyond humane butchering, though this decision was indeed hard on DD. If you are dead set on keeping all of your cockerels, then it sounds like you need a new bachelor pad of sufficient room to house them all. Depending on your weather, it doesn’t need to be very fancy. After all of the effort that I put into our bachelor coop, the boys prefer the run, and even roost there. I’ve thrown a tarp over them and they are comfortable. You could quickly and fairly inexpensively throw a run together for your boys, so your hens don’t have to live in constant fear.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Painful truth.

Yes it is and the situation is rather unfortunate. My SO and I were able to build a coop in a total of 6 hours time over the course of 3 days. Sure, I had help but it didnt take too long. Its just four sides a roof and a floor. Heck the OP could even go purchase 6 10 ft 4x4s. Cut them in half. Use 4 of each half for a floor base. Use 4 more for sides. Use 4 more for the tops. Screw it all together. Add some type of door using 2x4s. Purchase a big roll of chicken wire and stretch it to cover. Boom. Makeshift temporary structure until a coop can be built. But if there is no time for that rehoming is the best option.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Great video - love all the animals that showed up to “supervise”!!! That’s basically what we did with our bachelor pad run, with three cattle panels. The run was so much a faster and cheaper than the coop, which they don’t even particularly like!

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Great video - love all the animals that showed up to “supervise”!!! That’s basically what we did with our bachelor pad run, with three cattle panels. The run was so much a faster and cheaper than the coop, which they don’t even particularly like!

I just typed in temporary coop into google and that was the first thing that came up.just trying to give the OP options

 

[Henry&Friends]

You could make a bachelor pad, but that sounds like a lot of work. Whatever you decide to do, do it soon. The longer you think about it, the more attached you’ll get, and then you won’t have the heart to do it.

 

[slordaz]

one other option I can think of given you don't want to kill the extra roosters but have been unable to re-home any is make one of the pens a bachelor pad no hens or pullets allowed. This will most likely stress the roosters out for a bit but your hens won't be being harassed and do not leave any with your hens not a single one of them

 

[NatJ]

By my count, you've got 5 roosters and 5 hens. You've also got 3 older hens bullying 2 younger hens. Am I right?

I suggest you put the younger hens in the quarantine pen, the older hens in your main pen, and the roosters somewhere else. It sounds like the quarantine pen adjoins the main pen, so the different ages of hens can get used to each other.

For the roosters: you need another pen, since you either can't or won't butcher/kill them or give them away. (Lots of people advise killing them because some of us like to eat chicken, and because it's an "easy" fix--you never again have to make decisions about those particular birds.)

Several people had ideas for quick coops. Here's another: chain link dog run (several panels that fasten together), plus a doghouse or similar inside for bad weather. This is not be a predator proof setup, but could be a quick way to keep the chickens from killing each other while you figure out something better.