Help I have 1 roo and no other birds

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Dallasmom79

Hatching
Nov 20, 2020
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Last spring I ordered some silkies and ended up with these 2 beautiful babies. 1 roo and 1 hen. I’m out of state dealing with a family member who had a family who had a pre term baby and my husband calls frantic and says my birds are dead. I pretty much lost it because I’m so attached to them. They even sleep indoors at night. My hen was attacked by a red tail hawk. We live so far in the city we are technically not supposed to even have chickens. My husband left them alone for about 10 min to deal with our toddler in our backyard and went to put them in the outdoor coup and literally the hawk was shredding my sweet hen. We did get lucky and find our roo hours later he appeared out of no where we think he hid under the patio. So now I only have him. What do I do? Can he be alone? Do I need another hen? If so get a baby or one his age. How do I introduce them? I love him so much and want him to be happy. He and the hen bonded and had been together since 1 day old. We feel so guilty
 

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Thats so sad your Silkie hen was taken by a hawk :( you don't need to feel guilty for that! Not your fault the hawk got her.
Youe Silkie boy is beautiful! I'm sure he would appreciate a lovely Silkie lady friend or a few, the more the better, depending on your coop space. My Silkie boy has 2 girls with him and does not over-mate but lots of people suggest to have at least 8 or 10 hens to 1 rooster. I would suggest the same age or a little younger hens, more older then him and they can be a little more dominate over him, the same or younger age should submit easier to your rooster and get along well.
You usually would quarantine any new additions for 2 weeks at least (in case of diseases) and if all good then you could have a look and no touch introduction between a fence so nobody gets hurt - although some people just put the new additions in the coop overnight and they all wake up together and work it out from there. Might be some squabbling at first for pecking order but usually the rooster will be top spot no problem. If you get the new hens from the same person, so they already know eachother, that might make introduction easier.
Good luck with getting some new hens for your rooster :) Hope it all goes well for you!
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
So sorry for your loss.
Yes, get him another mate or two. Two would be better in case something happens to one, the other bird won't be all alone. They should be sexually mature. You will want to quarantine the new bids for a month to ensure they are healthy and you don't introduce disease or parasites to your cockerel unknowingly. After that, you can do the "look don't touch" introduction for a few days before allowing them access to each other.
I would consider making a larger, predator proof enclosure instead of allowing them to wander your yard. Silkies will nearly always fall to predators before any other breed.
Has he started crowing? What do your neighbors think?
The alternative might be to just give him to someone who is permitted to legally have chickens. You may do all this for him and end up with a happy flock and then get turned in for having chickens illegally and have to get rid of them.
 
First, I am so sorry that you lost your girl. Guilt is pretty normal, at least for me, whenever there's a predation loss. Everything, it seems, wants to kill and/or eat your chickens and no matter how vigilant you are, sometimes, the predator wins.

Your roo will be happier with a couple of hens, but is that practical, since you're legally not supposed to have chickens? I once lost a fight with previously allowed miniature goats in a town where they had lived in the yard for four years. It was heartbreaking to have to be forced to give them up (happy ending: I moved and managed to get my goats back).

It is possible to keep a lone chicken indoors as a pet. I have one -- I can't recommend it. But if you simply can't bear to part with your boy, it's a (not the best) option.
 

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