I adopted that other family of chickens-A funny thing for a change

[stormylady]

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[70monte]

I just dealt with the exact same situation recently other than I just introduced a new rooster into the existing flock. The new rooster who is bigger and younger, kicked the crap out of my existing rooster. My original rooster was then scared of the new guy and would run away whenever he came near. Things were okay for the next few days but then the new rooster started chasing and going after my original rooster. This is when I stepped in.

Everytime I saw the new rooster chase my other rooster, I would chase the new one until I caught him and then hold him down and peck on the top of his head with my fingers like I was a rooster.

These days the new rooster hardly every messes with my original rooster and they actually run around pretty close to each other. I was ready to give one of them away but now it looks like I won't have to.

Wayne

 

[GrannysRoost]

Unless I missed something in reading fast, or did you get shelter or rescue chickens and not quarentine them? Personally I would have had the new roo back on timeout, but it sounds like you want him right? It also sounds like you need to get rid of one or the other as you are going to have bloodier mess you won't want to deal with, better for all involved IMO, good luck!

 

[EmAbTo48]

Wow LOVE the website/link you had gotten from the rescue shelter!

I have read your whole thread and the websites I would take advice from this lady! Is there a way to not put the 2 chickens in a small cage, but make a small enclosure like the website says?? I think they were introduced (not your fault) way to fast to each other kind of like an ambush on your first flock which is VERY stressful!

I think allowing the 2 roos to see each other between a fence is a good idea and might work. Yes, your Conner may get battle wounds, but they won't be able to actually kill each other in between a fence.

This rescue has some very great tips like using tips to calm the group down, cracked corn, new things to keep them busy. At least try these things before just giving up. Yes, its time you have to put in but you never know they might co-exist just fine in a few weeks

 

[RedheadErin]

Nope, didnt quarantine. I asked everybody I know personally who has chickens, and they all said they had never quarantined anyone. I dont have the facilities to do that, anyway. Next time I get new birds--females only, please! I will rent a large dog crate and keep it in the garage. And I will only attempt this in nice weather.

I would definitely agree that they two roos were introduced to each other far too soon. My "separation pen" was a puppy playpen set in one side of the shed, with a blanket fastened over the top. It had seemed secure enough at the time. However, Apparently Connor got on it and jumped on it until he got into the pen. So then my kid let everybody out in the yard first, and told us about it later. I have no idea how to get the chickens to go back in thier shed once they are out, and they mostly run away from me, so we just left them out. That was my first mistake. Other mistakes I made included, putting Connor and not Seamus in the pen, returning Connor to the flock before his wound was fully healed, using a pen with openings that were too big, and putting the food and water containers at the front of the pen, so that Connor had to come within pecking range to get anything to eat or drink.

We are keeping the boys separated for a while, until Connor fully heals. We are going to let them take turns in the yard and hanging out with the girls. After Connor's comb heals, we are going to reinforce the puppy pen with a plywood top and line it with nylon hex mesh. They they can take turns staying in the pen at night and going in the yard during the day. When I have a couple of days off, I can start letting them have short contact.

I want to say thank you all for keeping me company on this journey. I completely freaked out when I found Connor cut and bloody for the third time. I was tired and rushed, trying to get out of the house to go attend to some family drama or other, and had already had 47 things go wrong in the 2 hours I had been awake after too little sleep. I just thought, "I can't do this. I made a horrible mistake, and I don't know how to undo it."

I feel much better now that I have a plan, and I know I can keep the two roos safe from each other until I have time to introduce them slowly. Rather than feeling I have to solve all their problems NOW!!!!!!!, I see that I can adjust their integration to my own schedule. In fact, it turns out that slower is better.


I have had pets my whole life, and I have never had so much trouble introducing one animal to the others. But then, I have mostly always had females.

 

[RedheadErin]

Here is our new reinforced rooster pen. It has a plywood top, half-inch square wire mesh, feeding stations that face each other inside and outside the pen, a separate feeding area at the back of the pen, and lots of fluffy straw. I have lots of zip ties for fastening yummy greens to the fence to encourage communal munching.

Connor is going out in the yard tomorrow and Seamus (new guy) can get in the pen first. then we plan to alternate them day by day. THe lady at the shelter says she does it this way "until they stop being jerks to each other," however long that might take!

.
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.THis si the ohter side of the shed. THey love to lay eggs in that blue milk crate. I ami goijng to add a couple more as soon as I figure out what hubs did with them.

 

[RedheadErin]

SO the other day we let Connor out with the hens. I heard some crowing on the front porch (where I keep telling them they are not allowed!) so I opened the door.

Connor was standing right at the door with a hen on either side of him, one new and one original, and crowing like crazy. I think he was saying, "That's right, ladies, I was slumming it last night, but this is where I really live. How do you like my mansion?"

And the hens were looking up at him going "Oh, Connor!

You never told us you were rich!"

 

[123ChickieLou]

Ok, I'm kinda new at this too and don't have a lot of experience with roosters. I do have a lot of experience with animals and pecking orders amungst them in general. I think the cage was the problem in the first place. Keeping Connor in the cage set him up to be picked on by the other; in his little chicken mind that other rooster will follow him into the other corner of the cage and he'll be trapped, he was doing what comes natural to him, to fight his way out. In his mind he was already cornered. y don't understand that the cage will keep the other out. The other roster picked on him even more because he wouldn't go away, as in retreat to a different part of the yard. Notice how they're not satisfied until the other leaves the space, its all about making the other one move whether they actually want that spot or not. I had two month old chicks get pecked to death at the edge of their pen, instead of going to the middle where nothing could get them; their instinct is to get under cover, not go out into the open. This is sorta the same thing. They don't understand that cages can be their refuge.

I'm glad you've found a solution in alternating cage days. However, I think you're only delaying the inevitable. They will fight it out again when you have them both out. At that point, if one is seriously going to kill the other, you could butcher one or let the other kill it and still have stew. Or, bring it to the shelter. I really think you'd save yourself some trouble by letting them loose together. Connor learned how to get away the first time and he'll do so again. ay hide behind a shed for a few days but he'll be fine when the other is satisfied that Connor will move out of his way when he challenges. Only Connor can demonstrate that.

Funny how this same stuff happens with dogs, cats, birds, horses, even fish!