I need advice please

[Jennyfromtheblok]

I am in a bit of a quandary and I’m not sure what to do. I have two runs that are separated with a divider in the middle and on each end I have two separate coops. On one side I have my red star with her own coop and on the other I have what I thought were three Ameraucana hens. The original goal was to give our red star some friends but she was a bully so she ended up with a run and coop all to herself.
I bought the Ameraucanas As started pullets And was told that they were all girls (she told me they are hard to sex at that age-12 weeks)but after A couple months of having them my Karen started crowing This weekend so she is a rooster. My intention was to get more ameraucanas their size Because I wanted more than just three but I was unable to find any. I don’t think it’s ideal to only have two hens in with a rooster. The girls he is with have not even started laying yet and tonight he’s already tried to hold one of them down to mate. I never wanted a rooster And the woman I got him from said she would take him back and trade me for a EE pullet but I’m also sort of attached now.
I got some Ameraucana chicks this weekend But it will be quite a while before I can introduce them into the flock and I don’t know if they will even be hens either. I’m taking a chance. I’m not sure what to do. Do I try to introduce the red star back in with the others and move the rooster to the coop by himself until the chicks get older? Or should I just rehome the rooster? What would you do if you were in my situation? I hope that all makes sense. I do enjoy him, even if he is a scaredy-cat, I just don’t want my 2 Ameraucana hens to be constantly bombarded by him.

 

[cherrynberry]

I am in a bit of a quandary and I’m not sure what to do. I have two runs that are separated with a divider in the middle and on each end I have two separate coops. On one side I have my red star with her own coop and on the other I have what I thought were three Ameraucana hens. The original goal was to give our red star some friends but she was a bully so she ended up with a run and coop all to herself.
I bought the Ameraucanas As started pullets And was told that they were all girls (she told me they are hard to sex at that age-12 weeks)but after A couple months of having them my Karen started crowing This weekend so she is a rooster. My intention was to get more ameraucanas their size Because I wanted more than just three but I was unable to find any. I don’t think it’s ideal to only have two hens in with a rooster. The girls he is with have not even started laying yet and tonight he’s already tried to hold one of them down to mate. I never wanted a rooster And the woman I got him from said she would take him back and trade me for a EE pullet but I’m also sort of attached now.
I got some Ameraucana chicks this weekend But it will be quite a while before I can introduce them into the flock and I don’t know if they will even be hens either. I’m taking a chance. I’m not sure what to do. Do I try to introduce the red star back in with the others and move the rooster to the coop by himself until the chicks get older? Or should I just rehome the rooster? What would you do if you were in my situation? I hope that all makes sense. I do enjoy him, even if he is a scaredy-cat, I just don’t want my 2 Ameraucana hens to be constantly bombarded by him.

I would give him back to trade, roosters are nasty to keep/difficult to rehome...plus you may end up with more cockerels. I would:

1.) trade the male for a female
2.) re-integrate the red star to the flock. Do you know how to integrate correctly?
3.) keep the rooster in with the others until I switch him with a hen...

And if in the future you have enough hens to have a rooster, they are not hard to find...or you could be ordering pullets and have an accident, I would not rush into getting a cockerel now though...

 

[azygous]

Reality check: a rooster needs around nine or ten hens in order for the hens not to get worn to a frazzle. If you keep the rooster and only have five or six hens, the hens can become frazzle-feathered, and even worse, stressed to the point they may not want to lay.

What would I do? I would sit down and figure out what size flock I want to have. I would not let things happen by accident, but would build my flock to the number of hens I want, and if the number will comfortably accommodate a rooster, then I would keep the roo. If I decide that five or six hens is the max I would want to keep, I would then rehome the roo, and if any more "accidental" roos appear, I would cull the boy chicks or rehome them at age three months.

This is not hypothetical. This is what I have actually done to maintain the size and quality flock that I want to have.

 

[Jennyfromtheblok]

I would give him back to trade, roosters are nasty to keep/difficult to rehome...plus you may end up with more cockerels. I would:

1.) trade the male for a female
2.) re-integrate the red star to the flock. Do you know how to integrate correctly?
3.) keep the rooster in with the others until I switch him with a hen...

And if in the future you have enough hens to have a rooster, they are not hard to find...or you could be ordering pullets and have an accident, I would not rush into getting a cockerel now though...

What I know about integrating would be to put her into the coop with them at night so that they wake up together. Am I correct? The red star has only ever been by herself because we rescued her and it was almost a year before we got the other chickens. She hangs next to them on her side of the divider and puts her head into their side of the run sometimes and they don’t care but she can be pretty rude/mean sometimes especially to me. Lol..so I’m Leary buy hopeful she can be integrated.
should I get rehome the rooster first and then try to integrate her? I don’t know if putting her in with the rooster and the other girls is a good idea because he seems real interested in her if you know what I mean lol.

 

[Jennyfromtheblok]

Reality check: a rooster needs around nine or ten hens in order for the hens not to get worn to a frazzle. If you keep the rooster and only have five or six hens, the hens can become frazzle-feathered, and even worse, stressed to the point they may not want to lay.

What would I do? I would sit down and figure out what size flock I want to have. I would not let things happen by accident, but would build my flock to the number of hens I want, and if the number will comfortably accommodate a rooster, then I would keep the roo. If I decide that five or six hens is the max I would want to keep, I would then rehome the roo, and if any more "accidental" roos appear, I would cull the boy chicks or rehome them at age three months.

This is not hypothetical. This is what I have actually done to maintain the size and quality flock that I want to have.

Thank you for that. I am not opposed to having 10+ hens but I’m just not at that point yet. You definitely helped me decide so thank you. Thankfully the woman I got him from will take him back and trade me for a pullet. And takes in Roosters so if any of the chicks turn out to be cockerels, I will be rehoming them to her with a donation. And if I decide later on I want a rooster, I know she will be able to help me out. I appreciate your help.

 

[azygous]

Glad my feedback helped you firm up your flock plans. Indecisiveness can be exhausting, the opposite of the fun that chicken keeping should be. Having a plan really does keep you sane.

 

[cherrynberry]

I would give him back to trade, roosters are nasty to keep/difficult to rehome...plus you may end up with more cockerels. I would:

1.) trade the male for a female
2.) re-integrate the red star to the flock. Do you know how to integrate correctly?
3.) keep the rooster in with the others until I switch him with a hen...

What I know about integrating would be to put her into the coop with them at night so that they wake up together. Am I correct? The red star has only ever been by herself because we rescued her and it was almost a year before we got the other chickens. She hangs next to them on her side of the divider and puts her head into their side of the run sometimes and they don’t care but she can be pretty rude/mean sometimes especially to me. Lol..so I’m Leary buy hopeful she can be integrated.
should I get rehome the rooster first and then try to integrate her? I don’t know if putting her in with the rooster and the other girls is a good idea because he seems real interested in her if you know what I mean lol.

I would rehome the rooster first, it should not take long if the seller takes them back right?

 

[Jennyfromtheblok]

I would rehome the rooster first, it should not take long if the seller takes them back right?

No not at all. We live in the same town, 5 mins away thankfully.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Your plan to integrate the Red Star may or may not work, but IMO is worth a try. The birds have been adjacent to one another for quite a while in what we call the "see-no-touch" setup, so it's probably time to let them share the same space. It's a good idea also to have barriers in the run that hens can hide behind or under to get away from each other, so long as no barrier is a dead-end trap. Good luck!

 

[cherrynberry]

Your plan to integrate the Red Star may or may not work, but IMO is worth a try. The birds have been adjacent to one another for quite a while in what we call the "see-no-touch" setup, so it's probably time to let them share the same space. It's a good idea also to have barriers in the run that hens can hide behind or under to get away from each other, so long as no barrier is a dead-end trap. Good luck!

Yeah, along with maybe 2 feeders and waterers...