Issues with rooster not letting newer chickens out of coop

[redbeard126]

Hi all,
A couple of weeks ago we introduced 7 new hens into our flock, it was 7 hens and 1 rooster. The introduction went fine and there were no fighting or major issues between the old flock and the new members, or so I thought. Recently, my wife and I noticed that the rooster is not letting the new members of the flock out of the coop, they will occasionally come down the ramp, get some water or food and then the rooster notices them and runs them back into the coop. The rooster is otherwise fairly docile, shows no aggression towards people, gets along fairly well with the other hens and ducks, and I haven't noticed him trying to "assault" any of the hens. I am considering removing the rooster for a few days to let the new hens out of the coop to range with the rest of the flock and then re-introducing the rooster but I honestly have no idea what I am doing here and could definitely use some help in this matter. Thanks to all!

 

[sourland]

How old is the rooster? I would definitely remove him from the flock for more than a few days.

 

[redbeard126]

How old is the rooster? I would definitely remove him from the flock for more than a few days.

The rooster is probably about 8 or 9 months old. he was raised with the rest of the older members of the flock

 

[Yardmom]

I had a cockeral who tried to keep hens in the coop. Sorry I don't have a solution as he had brothers, we ended up culling him.

 

[sourland]

In reality he is still a cockerel - a horny teenager. My gut instinct is that he is harassing the pullets, and they are not interested.. I would remove him from the flock until they start laying.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum from Louisiana, glad you joined.

I haven't noticed him trying to "assault" any of the hens.

I assume this means the new girls. How old are the new "hens"? Sounds like they could be immature pullets to me. Their age my be more of an issue than anything else. I assume the older hens are about 8 to 9 months old or older?

Or how big in feet or meters is the run or do they free range? Might as well ask about the size of the coop too. A photo showing how they are arranged could help. I find it easier to answer these things if I know what you are working with. Room could be part of the problem.

You can certainly isolate that boy and see what happens. That may or may not be a short term solution to the problem.

 

[redbeard126]

Welcome to the forum from Louisiana, glad you joined.


I assume this means the new girls. How old are the new "hens"? Sounds like they could be immature pullets to me. Their age my be more of an issue than anything else. I assume the older hens are about 8 to 9 months old or older?

Or how big in feet or meters is the run or do they free range? Might as well ask about the size of the coop too. A photo showing how they are arranged could help. I find it easier to answer these things if I know what you are working with. Room could be part of the problem.

You can certainly isolate that boy and see what happens. That may or may not be a short term solution to the problem.

So we have a smaller coop and run, the coop is probably 4x4 with an attached run that adds probably an additional, we also have a small covered pen that is probably about 10x10 that we let them run around in during the day. I am sure that space is an issue and we are currently waiting on the delivery of a new Carolina coop that is 5x12.

 

[redbeard126]

In reality he is still a cockerel - a horny teenager. My gut instinct is that he is harassing the pullets, and they are not interested.. I would remove him from the flock until they start laying.

Sounds good, I think we will start there. We mentioned the idea of having to "rehome" the rooster and our youngest son doesn't want that to happen, he says he's a great rooster so I am hoping that we can find a solution that doesn't involve that. Thank you for the advice!

 

[Ridgerunner]

How old are the new hens?

Since they can't come out of the coop my guess is that the space issue is more likely the room outside of the coop. Though a 4' x 4' coop for 15 chickens is really small.

 

[MuttleyNMo]

In reality he is still a cockerel - a horny teenager. My gut instinct is that he is harassing the pullets, and they are not interested.. I would remove him from the flock until they start laying.

That's a great answer, I agree 100%. But of course I would think it is, cause I was going to say the same thing. LOL