Hi everyone!
Two days ago I Introduced a 2 year old rooster to my flock of all hens, they are 15 in total and are one, two and three years old. I have had the rooster since he was one day old but kept him separated from the hens for most of his life. He lived in a separate pen with another rooster (who was the alpha). The alpha rooster became very aggressive this spring and was attacking me every time I came to their pen so I had to re home him. I really don't want to have a rooster in my flock but I did not want to re home the second rooster because there isn't anything wrong with him, he is gorgeous and not aggressive. Things went very well at the beginning, I was very much encouraged until today. He started attacking one of my hens, he seems to have a thing against her, it is not just trying to mate her and be dominant, he actually corners her, gets on top and pecks her repeatedly until I get there to separate them. I really do not know what to do at this point. The hen is one of my favorites so I don't want her to be stressed out and also I don't want the rooster to kill her.
This is my second try with having a rooster in my flock. The first time it was a disaster and that is why I had to remove the roosters. Some of my hens were squatting yesterday and I was happy to see that, but today, they run away from him and he has to catch them when they are distracted.
My rooster has signs of being a good rooster because he calls them when he finds food and lets them eat it, also he does warning sounds (they free range all day). I know it takes time for the flock to get adapted to him and him to them (2 days and a half are not enough to form an opinion) but I worried about my hen being attacked. I am looking for advice of what to do at this point and what should I expect when it comes to interaction between them. Half of my hens have had roosters before for a short period of time but the other half has never had a rooster living with them.
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
Two days ago I Introduced a 2 year old rooster to my flock of all hens, they are 15 in total and are one, two and three years old. I have had the rooster since he was one day old but kept him separated from the hens for most of his life. He lived in a separate pen with another rooster (who was the alpha). The alpha rooster became very aggressive this spring and was attacking me every time I came to their pen so I had to re home him. I really don't want to have a rooster in my flock but I did not want to re home the second rooster because there isn't anything wrong with him, he is gorgeous and not aggressive. Things went very well at the beginning, I was very much encouraged until today. He started attacking one of my hens, he seems to have a thing against her, it is not just trying to mate her and be dominant, he actually corners her, gets on top and pecks her repeatedly until I get there to separate them. I really do not know what to do at this point. The hen is one of my favorites so I don't want her to be stressed out and also I don't want the rooster to kill her.
This is my second try with having a rooster in my flock. The first time it was a disaster and that is why I had to remove the roosters. Some of my hens were squatting yesterday and I was happy to see that, but today, they run away from him and he has to catch them when they are distracted.
My rooster has signs of being a good rooster because he calls them when he finds food and lets them eat it, also he does warning sounds (they free range all day). I know it takes time for the flock to get adapted to him and him to them (2 days and a half are not enough to form an opinion) but I worried about my hen being attacked. I am looking for advice of what to do at this point and what should I expect when it comes to interaction between them. Half of my hens have had roosters before for a short period of time but the other half has never had a rooster living with them.
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
