I need advice please

[BigBlueHen53]

In my experience, cockerels reach hormonal maturity before their sisters do, making for some discomfort among the females. The cockerels can become very demanding in their attentions, intimidating the pullets. When I had half cockerels and half pullets, I was glad I had a bachelor (or "grow-out") pen for the cockerels until they were ready to harvest.

 

[3KillerBs]

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?

Here are some useful articles on integration:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-coop-brooder-and-integration.74591/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-“see-but-don’t-touch”-method.67839/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/adding-to-your-flock.47756/

 

[aart]

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.

Take him back, asap....see if she'll take the bully bird too.

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.

Ehhh....not so much.

The 'rooster' to hen ratio of 1:10 that is often cited is primarily for fertility efficiency in commercial breeding facilities.

It doesn't mean that if a cockbird has 10 hens that he won't abuse or over mate them.
Many breeders keep pairs, trios, quads, etc ....short term and/or long term.
It all depends on the temperaments of the cock and hens and sometimes housing provided.
Backyard flocks can achieve good fertility with a larger ratio.

 

[Jennyfromtheblok]

Take him back, asap....see if she'll take the bully bird too.


Ehhh....not so much.

The 'rooster' to hen ratio of 1:10 that is often cited is primarily for fertility efficiency in commercial breeding facilities.

It doesn't mean that if a cockbird has 10 hens that he won't abuse or over mate them.
Many breeders keep pairs, trios, quads, etc ....short term and/or long term.
It all depends on the temperaments of the cock and hens and sometimes housing provided.
Backyard flocks can achieve good fertility with a larger ratio.

My fiancé loves “dinner” the bully bird. She is sweet as pie to him and jumps up on his lap to be pet and everything. They adore eachother. She however does not feel the same about me. We tolerate eachother haha.

 

[aart]

My fiancé loves “dinner” the bully bird. She is sweet as pie to him and jumps up on his lap to be pet and everything. They adore eachother.

.....and he's fine with her making life miserable for the other birds?
Solve for the peace of the flock.

 

[Jennyfromtheblok]

.....and he's fine with her making life miserable for the other birds?
Solve for the peace of the flock.

She has her own coop and pen to herself and he’s ok with that. I will try to integrate her in again and see how it goes, last time the others were smaller then her, they aren’t anymore. If it doesn’t work she will most likely live her life in her own coop and pen and continue to hang out with them from behind the dividing wall. Lol

 

[Jennyfromtheblok]

You can see the divider here.

 

[cherrynberry]

She has her own coop and pen to herself and he’s ok with that. I will try to integrate her in again and see how it goes, last time the others were smaller then her, they aren’t anymore. If it doesn’t work she will most likely live her life in her own coop and pen and continue to hang out with them from behind the dividing wall. Lol

It’s normal for older chickens to bully small chicks...

 

[Jennyfromtheblok]

I just wanted to update. We rehomed the Rooster and tonight finally took out the divider to try to introduce our rude hen “Dinner” to our Ameraucana hens tonight. I was so nervous because I wasn’t sure how it would go. To my surprise they all get along great. There was no pecking at all, they just all hung around each other like they’ve been together since day 1. I’m not sure if it’s because they’ve always been able to see eachother through their separate pens but I’m so happy! Dinner was even so gentle with me. She still prefers my fiancé but that’s okay It was the best decision we made getting the rooster out of there. Thank you everyone for the advice!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

it’s because they’ve always been able to see eachother through their separate pens

This. It's how we integrate half-grown chicks with the established flock. The chicks are moved from a brooder in the house to a run adjacent to the big girls when they are fully feathered and can go outside. After a couple weeks of this, we open the gate that separates them, and nobody even notices that they are now freely mingling together.