I am still learning and have a question about behavior

[Tinkspirit70]

I am bad at writing things out so bear with me, I will try to do a good job. About a year and a half ago my sons kindergarden class hatched out some eggs, we ended up with the chicks : I got two roos and three hens ( cochins or so I am told) anyway the roos started fighting and I couldnt kill it neither could the husband so we built another tractor coop and bought four RIR's for Big red. Mr.Shaw ( named after my son's principle) stayed with the three cochin girls but then I realized how much I loved them all and decided I wanted more I bought five production reds....who I fell in love with but they were very ugly to my cochin girls who are just the sweetest girls so I decided to move them into coop number two with the RIR"s , now the Rir's are like street gang girls and will kick butt if the others even think about coming outta the coop for water or food, and also neither rooster has bred them or accepted them I cant build another coop because I am running out of room, and I cant let them out because we are predator heavy here, lots of hawks, eagles, coyotes, foxes etc. So here is my idea ( thank goodness I have a tolerant and handy husband) last night he built me a temp but safe ( only small) coop so that I could take the street girls ( RIR's) away from Big red and give him and the pro girls a chance to become friends and then I thought I could add the Rir's back in two at a time ??? think it will work? if I can get the roo to accept them will the Rir"s? also here is another question, I would like to add three or four more girls to my cochin coop , these cohins girls are so very kind and lady like...what breed would match their demeanor? I heard dels and buff orph's or EE's but I really dont know enough about the breeds to play expert, we are selling our eggs so I would like a good producer of large eggs...Thanks in advance for any advice..I love this site and look forward to all the stories posted everyday..

Thakns ~Tink~

 

[ibpboo]

I think you should try adding back one at a time like you're thinking of doing. Never know for sure if it will work or not, sometimes it does, other times not.
I don't have much experience with roos. Had one for a few months and he liked only one hen, that I could ever see. He was always mounting her and had her tore up.

 

[rcentner]

What are the age differences? Older hens are always nasty to younger ones (ok, maybe not always). I mean like... Mature hens vs immature hens. There will always be some conflict and I find it is easier for the birds if both groups of chickens are equal in numbers. If they are all mature, then it will just take time. They need to establish a pecking order.
As long as they can all get to food and water they should be fine. They make a lot of noise, but I don't interfere unless someone is actually getting injured. It can take a few weeks before they get used to eachother, it's easier if you have lots of room for the newbies to run away and multiple food/water centers so no one gets chased away from eating.

It's so nice to have handy husbands, I had 2 separate flocks for a long time...when I 1st got them I couldn't stand the fact that they would get picked on. Now I know more and have integrated my 2 flocks into 1. (so nice to have just 1 place to change water and food and clean). I kept the other pen for chicks that need to mature before being placed with the adults. In my experience, anything younger that 4 1/2 months old shouldn't be placed with the mature birds. They lack the self confidence to stand up to the older ones.

I hope it works out for you to have 1 nice big happy flock. I have never seen a roo not accept a hen/pullet unless said pullet is a cockeral! I always wondered why my roo picked on "shelly" so much, then a few months later "shelly" became "buddy" when she grew spurs and roo feathers

 

[rcentner]

Quote:
no...1 at a time has never worked out for me, safety in numbers (IMO)

 

[Tinkspirit70]

Thankyou so much for the input. My RIR's and production girls are both 6 mo...my Cochins which are in coop #1 are 1 1/2 yrs old. Any ideas on a nice breed for the cochin girls? I live in Fla and I am having a hard time finding chicken breeders in my area ( Manatee county)