How long do you keep rooster separated?

[kendra1985]

Long story short, we got rid of our dominant rooster (regretting that one) and now the submissive one is being a huge jerk and won’t let the hens out of coop to eat, drink and forage because he attacks them. Thinking about getting a small coop to separate him - how long do I keep him separate? Do I ever let him in there to mingle? I’m worried his behavior will not change. They are all about 20 weeks old.

 

[fluffycrow]

How old was the dominant male? What do the attacks look like? Do they look like mating attempts?

 

[kendra1985]

How old was the dominant male? What do the attacks look like? Do they look like mating attempts?

They are all the same age, raised from chicks. Yes… he chases them and mounts them. To the point they don’t want to come out of the coop. It’s only been a couple days since we got rid of the other one but they won’t come out unless we remove him from the coop and run. We should’ve kept the other one since they had pecking order already established. I really don’t want to buy a separate coop but that’s the only option I can think about besides culling him.

 

[Ridgerunner]

HI, welcome to the forum from Louisiana, glad you joined.

Those are not roosters and hens, they are immature cockerels and pullets. When they all mature things will almost certainly change. When will they mature? Who knows? With my pullets, behaviors typically change when they start to lay. I've had a cockerel mature enough when he was about the same age as yours but that is really young. Most of my cockerels have hit that phase by 7 months of age. I've had a couple that have taken longer than that but not many.

The only way you will find out is to let him out and see what happens. Expect him to mate with one or two as soon as he can, that's how a rooster establishes dominance over the flock. What you are looking for is how scared they are of him and whether or not some willingly squat for him. Be a little patient but if you are not happy, lock him up again.

You do not need a new coop, he is not going to be laying eggs. You need some type of shelter to protect him from severe weather. In many climates this time of the year he'd be fine sleeping in trees as far as weather goes so the shelter does not need to be that weatherproof. The biggest concerns are predators and probably the heat. I don't know how big your run is or how predator proof, but perhaps a portion of it sectioned off with chicken wire would be enough. Even in colder climates this time of year an "open air coop" would work. I personally would not worry that much about him roosting. If the choice is between losing his head and sleeping on the ground he's probably better off sleeping on the ground.

 

[kendra1985]

HI, welcome to the forum from Louisiana, glad you joined.

Those are not roosters and hens, they are immature cockerels and pullets. When they all mature things will almost certainly change. When will they mature? Who knows? With my pullets, behaviors typically change when they start to lay. I've had a cockerel mature enough when he was about the same age as yours but that is really young. Most of my cockerels have hit that phase by 7 months of age. I've had a couple that have taken longer than that but not many.

The only way you will find out is to let him out and see what happens. Expect him to mate with one or two as soon as he can, that's how a rooster establishes dominance over the flock. What you are looking for is how scared they are of him and whether or not some willingly squat for him. Be a little patient but if you are not happy, lock him up again.

You do not need a new coop, he is not going to be laying eggs. You need some type of shelter to protect him from severe weather. In many climates this time of the year he'd be fine sleeping in trees as far as weather goes so the shelter does not need to be that weatherproof. The biggest concerns are predators and probably the heat. I don't know how big your run is or how predator proof, but perhaps a portion of it sectioned off with chicken wire would be enough. Even in colder climates this time of year an "open air coop" would work. I personally would not worry that much about him roosting. If the choice is between losing his head and sleeping on the ground he's probably better off sleeping on the ground.

Thanks for your reply. The pullets have started laying about 2 weeks ago. I went out there today and was able to coax them out with some meal worms and he didn’t mount any at that time, they just kinda skittered away from him when he got close. We could probably fence off a little area in the run to pin him in if needed so thank you for that recommendation. I am hoping this power shift dynamic is just temporary since it’s only been a few days. I’ve noticed our one and only Brahma seems ok with him and will stay out with him. Maybe she likes him better than the other rooster… she mostly spent her time in the coop before. I think I just need to be more patient!

 

[fluffycrow]

This is behavior I've observed with my inexperienced males as well. I usually let things happen, and everything mellows out after a couple days. Most likely, he just wants to make the pullets his officially, and the pullets aren't yet 100% sure about it. I'd wait and see how it goes

 

[agarnp]

hmm -I have a similar situation but we didnt get rid of our established rooster...we have one of the cockerells he sired and that one is 16 weeks old...hes a little terror. We had him housed with a few fellow cockerells for a while and figured we would select him to add to our established flock of 6 hens, 12 pullets and one rooster.. but the cockerell is rough and the older rooster spends most of his time chasing the cockerell away. Not sure its going to work out but its only been a few days...I let them out to forage for a while but when the cockerell goes into the pen or near the coop old rooster comes after him-so i put the young one by himself in a separate secure chicken tractor. It wd be great if in time he forned his own flock from some of the younger pullets. Now I think one of the bigger pullets thinks shes alpha and has been challenging me when I go in the pen. I always thought the rooster wd keep them in line so I hope Ms. grouchy pants gets a dose from the new cockerell and appropriate pecking order can be established. Good luck w your cockerell - it is interesting dynamics between these critters-I guess just monitor and make sure no one is being hurt or badly bullied.

 

[kendra1985]

hmm -I have a similar situation but we didnt get rid of our established rooster...we have one of the cockerells he sired and that one is 16 weeks old...hes a little terror. We had him housed with a few fellow cockerells for a while and figured we would select him to add to our established flock of 6 hens, 12 pullets and one rooster.. but the cockerell is rough and the older rooster spends most of his time chasing the cockerell away. Not sure its going to work out but its only been a few days...I let them out to forage for a while but when the cockerell goes into the pen or near the coop old rooster comes after him-so i put the young one by himself in a separate secure chicken tractor. It wd be great if in time he forned his own flock from some of the younger pullets. Now I think one of the bigger pullets thinks shes alpha and has been challenging me when I go in the pen. I always thought the rooster wd keep them in line so I hope Ms. grouchy pants gets a dose from the new cockerell and appropriate pecking order can be established. Good luck w your cockerell - it is interesting dynamics between these critters-I guess just monitor and make sure no one is being hurt or badly bullied.

I was able to coax them out yesterday a few times and have seen them out today a few times, although it’s raining so they haven’t been out a whole lot. It seems things have settled down a bit. I think they are all just kinda confused since we took the dominant one away. Our dominant cockerel chased our non dominant one quite a bit and we knew we had to get rid of one just wasn’t sure which one.

 

[Clementine2022]

Long story short, we got rid of our dominant rooster (regretting that one) and now the submissive one is being a huge jerk and won’t let the hens out of coop to eat, drink and forage because he attacks them. Thinking about getting a small coop to separate him - how long do I keep him separate? Do I ever let him in there to mingle? I’m worried his behavior will not change. They are all about 20 weeks old.

My rooster won't let the hens out in the morning. He's just a grump when he wakes up. Sometimes the girls will come out anyway they either let him chase them around the run, or stand up to him. Nobody has been injured. Once I open the coop for them to free range, everything is good. Sometimes you just have to let them have at it. Maybe he's releasing pent up frustration after being held back by the other rooster.