A co-worker of mine had been offering an EE hen to me for months and i was really noncommittal over it, since single bird additions can be tedious to manage. He asked again and I said "Well if you bring her to work I'll just have to take her home." So he did. She hadn't laid for 5 months. (He came by the next day and showed me a picture of the blue egg he had found in the coop, after having brought her to me... of course that's how it goes!)
So I added her into the mixed colorful egg coop ruled over by this fella..
He escorted her on in and even did the good rooster thing of keeping tabs on hen drama. She still spends some time alone but the transition went way better than I thought it would, thanks to mr rooster.
Fast forward a couple of days... this hen comes to me as soon as she sees me, very much a pet. Rooster comes too, started pecking at the ground and making like he was thinking of challenging me. I asked him if he wanted to snuggle, I prepared myself for a snatch grab if he jumped at me. Nothing that time.
The next day, he did jump at my shin. I was wearing gloves, so the next time he came in close I snatched him up. Walked around with him, talked to him, sat down and held him. One of his hens jumped on my knee and made faces at him. When he finally quit whining and struggling and seemed to sigh I set him free.
The day after that, I went back out there to see if he remembered. Here comes the hen, him following close behind. I squat down. He's pecking at random things on the ground, angling himself between the hen and I, acting like he was herding her.
I didn't pet her or offer her food. Rooster left me alone, just made sure that "his" hen didn't get too cozy with me. So I threw some feed down and rewarded him.
He's jealous! He spends ALL day with those girls and the very moment I step foot into the run the new hen comes running with 2-3 other friendly ones. He just can't stand it! He wasn't even trying to be mean about it, just acting like he should have some say-so in how it goes.
If I just stand still or sit still, he has no ill will towards me. He respects the 3 ft rule still, more so now that he knows how long my arms are and how fast I can snatch him. I can walk through his run to get to the cockerel coop and he just escorts.
He's the first I've had who acted really jealous but wasn't terribly mean about it. More like "Heyhey now, what's going on here!" which... technically that's his job.
I tempted fate a little bit too, postured at him to see what he would do. He faced off and flared his neck feathers, but gave the courtesy of giving the first move to me, which I declined. I stared at him until he walked off, so I feel like we have an understanding now. He's a smart one, just jealous.
The co-worker that had her... he was talking all about culling his 2 year old hens and making stew. All but her, because she was the kids favorite. She is a very sweet hen and this rooster is taking great care of her!
So I added her into the mixed colorful egg coop ruled over by this fella..
He escorted her on in and even did the good rooster thing of keeping tabs on hen drama. She still spends some time alone but the transition went way better than I thought it would, thanks to mr rooster.
Fast forward a couple of days... this hen comes to me as soon as she sees me, very much a pet. Rooster comes too, started pecking at the ground and making like he was thinking of challenging me. I asked him if he wanted to snuggle, I prepared myself for a snatch grab if he jumped at me. Nothing that time.
The next day, he did jump at my shin. I was wearing gloves, so the next time he came in close I snatched him up. Walked around with him, talked to him, sat down and held him. One of his hens jumped on my knee and made faces at him. When he finally quit whining and struggling and seemed to sigh I set him free.
The day after that, I went back out there to see if he remembered. Here comes the hen, him following close behind. I squat down. He's pecking at random things on the ground, angling himself between the hen and I, acting like he was herding her.
I didn't pet her or offer her food. Rooster left me alone, just made sure that "his" hen didn't get too cozy with me. So I threw some feed down and rewarded him.
He's jealous! He spends ALL day with those girls and the very moment I step foot into the run the new hen comes running with 2-3 other friendly ones. He just can't stand it! He wasn't even trying to be mean about it, just acting like he should have some say-so in how it goes.
If I just stand still or sit still, he has no ill will towards me. He respects the 3 ft rule still, more so now that he knows how long my arms are and how fast I can snatch him. I can walk through his run to get to the cockerel coop and he just escorts.
He's the first I've had who acted really jealous but wasn't terribly mean about it. More like "Heyhey now, what's going on here!" which... technically that's his job.
I tempted fate a little bit too, postured at him to see what he would do. He faced off and flared his neck feathers, but gave the courtesy of giving the first move to me, which I declined. I stared at him until he walked off, so I feel like we have an understanding now. He's a smart one, just jealous.
The co-worker that had her... he was talking all about culling his 2 year old hens and making stew. All but her, because she was the kids favorite. She is a very sweet hen and this rooster is taking great care of her!
that seemed to make him happy. 
