Integrating adult roosters

[trifecta]

Yes. It's funny too because they are just some jubilee Indian game (WLR Cornish). In the states they were easy to find. I've been trying to add some to my flock for the past year and no luck- can't wait to eat my super fancy show rooster because he can't learn to get along

Most expensive chicken dinner out house will have ever had.

 

[AshlyMommaWard]

If I had your set up, from what you've described...
Main coop, large run, secondary housing where you'll have cockerels and Capone's, who'll be butchered by the time quarantine is over, and a third quarantine housing.
I would quarantine as described, butcher boys as described and then move pair/trio to secondary housing. Is the secondary housing adjacent to main run or something? That would be ideal...
See how they do separated by fencing. If they want to kill each other through he fence, then you know. If they seem peaceful, integration could be tried after a week or two of adjacent living.
Or, if I were in Australia and they were that pricey, and he was a good specimen.. I'd keep them in adjacent secondary housing, breed in the spring, sell offspring, possibly keep a pullet or two then eat/integrate him.
At least if you have to eat him then you've offset the cost by selling offspring. I'd think you'd need at least a trio for this option to be worthwhile.
Heck, once they're adjacent maybe they'll be cool and agree to living together, but I wouldn't keep an extra male unless I had plans to breed him, in which case you'd have to separate at some point anyway. Or he's just another mouth to feed, adding to the money you'll already have in him and contributing nothing. I've gotten rambly, I apologise.

 

[trifecta]

Thanks. That's basically the plan. Second pen is a tractor so when I'm integrating young birds I put it next to the main coop. its 36sq feet so I could keep a pair or maybe a trio depending on how well they get along separated until spring easily. But then the pullets could go out with the main group I suppose once integrated.

Thanks for the idea!

 

[AshlyMommaWard]

Thanks. That's basically the plan. Second pen is a tractor so when I'm integrating young birds I put it next to the main coop. its 36sq feet so I could keep a pair or maybe a trio depending on how well they get along separated until spring easily. But then the pullets could go out with the main group I suppose once integrated.

Thanks for the idea!

Sounds great, glad to help. If there's one thing I'm getting great at its dreamily planning breeding groups and diverse flocks. (Currently living in town for the first time in my life, no roosters allowed).
I've read bits about Australia's strict importation practices and without experiencing it personally I can imagine there's a decent market for "rare" breeds there. In rural US I've done quite well selling extras of "exotics" which to a lot of folks is anything that's not rir or barred rocks. Not like I've made a living at it, but enough to offset the price of the birds I kept and sometimes even help pay for feed, housing expansions/improvements etc.
Best wishes, hope you score a good deal on your new birds.

 

[trifecta]

Yeah genetics is a huge problem here. Pretty sure the Marans and Favorelles have family trees that look more like wreaths

But yes I'd like to be able to sell chicks next year. The little pen is good for isolating a breeding pair or separating the other rooster for sure. I think if I end up with a third one I will build another smallish tractor so I have enough pens to separate the boys if for some reason it goes belly up (+ my quarantine pen which I like to save in case I have a sick bird). We are in a rural enough area that it's at least an hour drive to get to a decent hatchery so there is probably a market for it here. Not to get rich but perhaps offset some feed would be nice.

 

[AshlyMommaWard]

Yeah genetics is a huge problem here. Pretty sure the Marans and Favorelles have family trees that look more like wreaths

But yes I'd like to be able to sell chicks next year. The little pen is good for isolating a breeding pair or separating the other rooster for sure. I think if I end up with a third one I will build another smallish tractor so I have enough pens to separate the boys if for some reason it goes belly up (+ my quarantine pen which I like to save in case I have a sick bird). We are in a rural enough area that it's at least an hour drive to get to a decent hatchery so there is probably a market for it here. Not to get rich but perhaps offset some feed would be nice.

While I can imagine it's disheartening for the diversity enthusiasts like myself, it's probably worth it to strategically ward off the nasty poultry illnesses of other places. Read a discussion on the price to import a bird from a "dirty" country (us) to a "clean" country (Australia) and it was nearly 5X the cost of the reverse. I have no idea the cost from European countries, must be similarly expensive if marans/favs are that... Circular?... In their family trees

With the exception of some very hard working and heavily invested breeder's programs here a lot of our imported breeds aren't even resemblances of their namesakes. Many of our marans shouldn't even be called marans according to definition, our faverolles have only been salmon for a couple years! They were assorted colors when I fist came across them.. that's not a salmon faverolles, it's not salmon!

Our isbars and cream Legbar have loads of issues and are still super expensive. But I'll stop taking for granted that I can go get about any breed I want within a couple hundred miles.
Stop back in with pics of them if you pick up new birds, I love stories with conclusions!

 

[trifecta]

While I can imagine it's disheartening for the diversity enthusiasts like myself, it's probably worth it to strategically ward off the nasty poultry illnesses of other places. Read a discussion on the price to import a bird from a "dirty" country (us) to a "clean" country (Australia) and it was nearly 5X the cost of the reverse. I have no idea the cost from European countries, must be similarly expensive if marans/favs are that... Circular?... In their family trees

With the exception of some very hard working and heavily invested breeder's programs here a lot of our imported breeds aren't even resemblances of their namesakes. Many of our marans shouldn't even be called marans according to definition, our faverolles have only been salmon for a couple years! They were assorted colors when I fist came across them.. that's not a salmon faverolles, it's not salmon!

Our isbars and cream Legbar have loads of issues and are still super expensive. But I'll stop taking for granted that I can go get about any breed I want within a couple hundred miles.
Stop back in with pics of them if you pick up new birds, I love stories with conclusions!

Just a quick update- sometimes even the best laid plans go out the window!

The good- brought home 4 birds (2 cockerels, 1 pullet, 1 hen).
The bad- TC Debbie forced me to revisit my quarantine ideas as I needed to move all the birds to a more secure location after only 2 weeks. We are lucky that the birds seem healthy- we miraculously avoided a respiratory disease outbreak.

The bad- the 4 newbies are in a separate pen within the main run. No fighting has occurred through the fence. But the dynamic between my 2 other roosters has gone into a tail spin. Eddie the Araucana was very upset from day 1 bc he could hear the new arrivals and kept flying out to look for intruders. My BCM too, Hippo, has started moulting and Eddie took this as opportunity to take over. Hippo somewhat graciously stepped down and Eddie earned himself a set of peepers.

I'm going to try introducing the newbies after Easter- I'd like Hippo to be done with his moult. Eddie will not be staying long term I've decided- I'll get some chicks hatched and then he can go on to the freezer. He is more worried about beating up Hippo than protecting the girls and is very aggressive with the hens- they all hate him!!

I'll post part 2 of how this goes after Easter.