Integrating a cockerel into a flock of mature hens

[aart]

I've let them all out much earlier this morning than I normally would have (keeping an eye out for wandering fox) but wanted to give them as many distractions as possible as soon as possible to hopefully prevent further picking and aggression (the one pullet I know for sure has been picking and got Ichabod's comb also bit me after the incident with him).

The pullets have decided teaming up on one hen to try to earn their spots is a much more effective approach but Ichabod is being very quick to break up these spars. He's being very assertive but still polite about it all. I can see already, he's going to have a very busy day.

Busy day...haha...poor Ichy.
Wonder if the other pullets would be as bad ***** if the meanest one was confined by herself...might be worth a try, would be interesting in any case.

 

[lazy gardener]

Thank you. I do worry about not being able to break the habit but want to do everything I can to try before making any final decisions. I had wondered whether picking is strictly habitual or if it can also be hereditary and started a thread about it; asking for input from people who had experience specifically with feather pickers who have had offspring - whether the offspring were prone to it or if it was just isolated to a parent. The feedback I got was that it's habitual, not hereditary and received some great support and helpful tips from people who have been able to break their birds' of the picking so I my hope is not lost.

Why not link this thread to your signature?

 

[islandgirl82]

Quote:
Confining the meanest/most dominant pullet (the obvious feather picker) is what I think would be best for the time being. Being out to range now is keeping her too busy to stir up too much trouble but at night, I think it will ease a lot of the issues, especially until the others have regrown their feathers.

 

[islandgirl82]

Quote:
Done. Thanks!

 

[Sylvester017]

Thank you. I do worry about not being able to break the habit but want to do everything I can to try before making any final decisions. I had wondered whether picking is strictly habitual or if it can also be hereditary and started a thread about it; asking for input from people who had experience specifically with feather pickers who have had offspring - whether the offspring were prone to it or if it was just isolated to a parent. The feedback I got was that it's habitual, not hereditary and received some great support and helpful tips from people who have been able to break their birds' of the picking so I my hope is not lost.

That's good to know and hope you have luck -- I hate to think that any Doms would be a problem because I like them so much and want to get one or maybe two of them next Spring after having lost 2 birds out of my flock this summer. My own experience with feather-picking was a disaster mainly because I had an assertive bird to begin with - a Marans. She was sneaky, tried to challenge the alpha White Leghorn who promptly put her in her place -- White Leghorns are no shrinking violets. So next, the Marans started to harass the docile non-combative Silkies because they didn't retaliate. She would sneakily sit next to a fluffy Silkie on the roost and pick all their fluffy feathers off at night. During the day when I caught her claw-attacking a 6-month Silkie pullet til it screamed was the last straw for me and re-homed her into an assertive layer flock where she couldn't bully the other Marans and Leghorns in the flock -- the new owner said she fit right in with no issues.

I've posted these pics a few times showing how the Marans picked the timid Silkie bald and left only under-down feathers before we realized the poor little thing was NOT molting but being eaten alive! I'm lucky the other hens didn't see what she was doing to pick up the bad habit. This was only 6 months into having backyard chickens so I wasn't knowledgeable or experienced enough yet to clue into the idiosyncrasies of chicken behaviors or that I shouldn't have mixed docile timid breeds with heavier dual purpose breeds. Live and learn!

 

[islandgirl82]

I feel very disheartened just by the idea of having to cull her but today gave me much more hope. Both groups spent from dawn until dusk out free-ranging together with minor scuffles amongst the girls but Ichabod was quick to act. He spent a little time chasing the pullets around but he kept both groups in the same areas to keep an eye on all throughout the day and I didn't notice any feather picking or truly aggressive behavior from anyone, even with day-old wounds both from the plucked feathers on pullets and the bites on Ichabod's comb, no attention was paid to those areas.

The one who has been the most cause for concern is the smallest of all. Maybe her size is inherent but I'm more inclined to think she's been so feisty because she wouldn't have survived if she hadn't been. Removing the barrier (which seemed to increase her aggressiveness) and allowing everyone out seems to have changed her attitude quite a bit. Maybe it's due to being so early on in the free-ranging and there are such new things to explore but my fingers are crossed that this will be a lasting difference.

The pullets are quick studies too and follow at my heels even when they're in their own little group. They still don't want to be handled but they're not so fearful of anyone anymore.

I also got a few photos through the living room window of Ichabod sneaking up on the pup and how she reacted.

Sneaking up...


...she sees him...


....and that was it.


As much as she loves to watch them, she prefers to do so with a little distance when I'm not right there with them. None of them fear her and a few will even chase her so when any of them get too close (for her comfort) she moves away.

 

[lazy gardener]

Wonderful. glad pup is fitting in well.

 

[islandgirl82]

Wonderful. glad pup is fitting in well.

Me too!

Everything about her mix gave me pause; Huskies with their incredibly high prey drive, Labs being bird hunting dogs, Catahoula Leopard Dogs being bred for both hunting and cattle herding left only the Border Collie that might be okay but with their energy levels and need for a job or they wreak havoc, on the drive home as she was snuggled in between the children in the backseat, I couldn't help but think I'd just made the worst decision a flock keeper possibly could but how wrong that thought had been.

We did have a little incident yesterday. She always stays in the yard unless she's with me and will happily sit on the porch and watch cars, people walking/jogging, cycling, etc. as they go by but has never shown the slightest interest in pursuing any of them. That said, she LOVES the school bus because it carries all kinds of little people and the best part of her day is when her own little people arrive home. In the afternoons the bus passes our house to turn around at the end of our road and drops the children off on the way back so they're not crossing the road. Well I wasn't paying attention to the time and she was pacing by the door to go out (we had housetraining completed within her first three weeks here) and I obliged. When I saw the bus pass, I went out to meet my son and when he got off the bus, the pup did too!! She must have sensed the bus was on it's way and had chased it down the road (thank goodness there's no traffic this time of year!) and the driver had my son call her on it so he didn't accidently run her over. She must have thought she'd died and gone to puppy heaven because she had a swarm of k-5th graders who were more than happy to give her cuddles and belly rubs in that 30 second bus ride.

How are things going with your pup?

 

[lazy gardener]

She's being a bad girl. Thinks it's fun to see chickens run. So, I have to be on alert about chicken moods (if she's on E-collar, and I exit house with something in my hands, or the chickens THINK they are hungry, and they swarm me, there is likely to be an incident of "bad dog". But, otherwise, I can let her out on E-collar, and the chickens have figured out that they need to stay in back yard, and are almost always out of her range. I'm seriously considering getting a behavior modification collar to deal with this issue as well as her bull headed refusal to "come" unless it's her idea, or unless there is a treat involved. She challenges the range of the E-collar to collect acorns, or to sneak around the front corner of the shop where for some reason the signal doesn't always respond correctly.

She is also very in tune to the school bus schedule, and knows when hubby is due to come home. Paces the floor, and wants to go out for those exciting times.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I have read previous thread just this morning and am on page 9 of this newer great thread. Love the observations and photos of your chicken paradise. We too integrated a 10 week old cockerel to our older (4 year olds and 2 year olds) and 5 pullets this year after losing our beloved New Hampshire, Roger, this spring.

The new guy, Junior, is Welsummer. He has just recently brought together my whole flock. He is up on the high roost for the last 3 weeks or so with the old biddies and next to Sylvia, our high hen, who has still not relinquished her reign as top hen as I just witnessed on my walk back to the house from the coop earlier this week. She went toe to toe with him. Hackles up and he backed away. I have this old picnic table pulled into the woods next to the coop that the birds will use for cover or stand on and preen. Sylvia jumped up on the table top and danced with a strutting wing down for my 2 year old BLRW hen. Goof ball. Perhaps she has an ovary going wonkie and not pumping out a good amount of girl hormones or she has taken on the chores that Roger left way too seriously and feels Junior is far from ready.

Junior is now 6 months old and very much a boy with adolescent behaviors, learning the ropes, trying to hang on. Not giving the predator call quite as much as I'd like him too when aerials fly over. I'll give the "twirl" call when something flies over...all the young girls respond pretty fast and he then puts an eye on the sky. But not quite like Rog did. I hope that comes along. Sylvia is probably doing the job for him...? Still?

Anyways love the thread. Will get on reading more to get caught up.

My Cast of Characters:


Junior

Pullets in the Front. Sylvia there in the middle by Junior. Old girls in the back.


Junior showing Patsy Cline the salad bowl he's discovered!


Old Sylvia