Help me think this thru: divorcing my roo from his hens

[TexasChickenUnv]

Got a roo with attitude, only reasons he's not in the stew pot are that he was my DD7s first chick, and he's very, very good at his roosterly duties(guarding, tidbitting, and the obvious ). He's the handsome guy in my avatar(EE/Ameraucana, whatever the feed store was calling the chicks that day).

I'm tired of the 'tude, and the hens are showing wear from his affections(bare backs). We've built him a jail but haven't sentenced him yet. Not quite sure how I want to do this.

I'm thinking, put the jail(it's an 8'x4' half open/half enclosed coop) near our coop and run, so he can still see his girls and stand watch. Should I give him a companion or two, or turn him into a bachelor? Short term relationships(say, a couple of weeks or months?), or pick a few and let him be happy with that long term? I hate the bare backs...I don't really want to upset pecking order...

And an even bigger question: my banties like to go broody, and I like the ability to generate replacements as well as a little freezer filler in the spring, if I took him out now, could I put him back in for a while in Jan/Feb? Or just toss in the hens whose eggs I want and let him have a couple of flings? I wonder which would be the least disruptive?

And to complicate things, I have a second roo. He's almost a year old, and doesn't take after his dad(mom was a Dominique). The roos get along fine. Should he go to jail with dad, or stay with the ladies?

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Den in Penn]

Is he human aggressive? If that is the case he should go. If he isn't, a bachelor pad isn't a bad idea. I would put both him and his son in there if you want the hens backs to recover. You can breed them either way. I think that with two roosters the disruption would be less by putting them both loose for a time.

 

[Percheron chick]

When you remove the older roo, chances are that #2's britches will get too big for him as well. He's nice now because daddy is keeping him in line. The hens will never recover until you remove both boys.

Hens also do not have to breed multiple time every day to lay fertile eggs. Approximately 2 days after breeding and for 5-7 days afterwards, the eggs laid will be fertile. Put the hens with the rooster for one afternoon, put him back in jail at dusk. Wait 2 days and then start collecting eggs to incubate. Turn the hens back with him around day 5. that will give you a good week of fertile eggs to work with.

 

[donrae]

Get rid of the rooster altogether. Why have a rooster that causes you so much trouble? That temperament isn't something you want to pass on, either. This is a good chance to teach your daughter about making hard decision, the rooster has to go for the good of the flock and it sounds like the people. See how things go with your younger rooster.

 

[earlybird10842]

I agree with donrae compleatly--dump the older roo, keep the little one.

 

[TexasChickenUnv]

He's human aggressive but manageable. I hate to ditch him because he's an amazing guard. We have a family of hawks either on our property or a neighbor's, and while the brooder coop is completely enclosed, I did lose a chick this spring when the dang things managed to snag one and tried to pull it thru the chicken wire. The hawks don't mess with the main coop. We also have raccoons that pulled off a raid two summers ago; he was the only survivor. We were gone on vacay and the sitters left the run door open. He held them off the first night, but the second attack was too much. I think it traumatized him.

All the extra roosters go to freezer camp, so no worries on the character building front. Well, I guess the son has escaped that fate so far, but whereas last spring I had more hens hatch out, this year I think I got one, maybe two(still watching tail feathers), and 9 roos. Freezer is going to be full but not looking forward to butchering in a Texas summer.

Good point on the younger one; I can definitely put them together, and duh, I forgot he's getting some action of his own. I do want the hens to get a break.

Appreciate the input!