laying enough? is rooster harming them?

[SonLight Farm]

So I didnt realize you didnt need a rooster to have eggs! lol (city slicker turned farmer, much??)

we adopted 15 hens and 1 rooster. he is not overly aggressive. Buuut, I did notice he is literally guarding the food and not letting my hens eat in the AM until he has his way with them! We have only had them about 3 days and we have had 2 eggs so far..but the lady we got them from said they were laying 1-2 a day EACH. is it because they are new to us and maybe scared? They were free range, and now we have them in a run because i was afraid of predators ( we live in a very rural place known for coyotes and what not). would putting them in the run have something to do with the decrease in eggs? or could it be the rooster? he seems like he is kinda wearing out one in particular..hes always after her...
also..should we seperate them from now on and put the rooster in his own run and coop?? he is not crazy mean to us or them, he actually has a pretty good disposition and i would love to eventually have some chicks from him...
any info would be helpful. TIA!

 

[sourland]

2 eggs a day/hen is not going to be happening. The previous owner is fictionalizing about that. It is not unusual for hens to stop laying after a change in environment. The eggs that you initially got were in process in the 'assembly line'. Your hens will probably take a break and then resume laying. I doubt that the rooster is a problem, but you may want to provide multiple feeding stations to assure that the hens are eating enough. Enjoy your new flock.

 

[Den in Penn]

Welcome to BYC.
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