My Biggest Baby Shamo Roo is Getting Picked On By The Smaller Guys…

[HetaChick]

So I hatched a bunch of chicks back on January3-5 so their like teenagers now right? Well my cockerels decided to live up to their nature and start vying for dominance which is BAD. I have about 3-4 roos out of 11 birds so I suppose it COULD be worse but yesterday I found them beating on my favorite roo.

I heard screaming and I thought "great someone got separated from Chicken (their adopted mama) again, so off I went looking for them. To my surprise I find two of my cockerels at a deadlock, obviously they had been fighting and my biggest cockerel and the biggest of AAALLL my chicks was the one hurt the most. He's so docile and sweet he probably wasn't even looking for trouble. Another chick turned up with bites on his face from the other chick so I'm assuming the most dominant one is picking on the other boys.

These guys are like, mid-tame to me. They'll eat out of my hand and sometimes come when i make the "tidbit" call but they aren't like the little girl in my avatar I brag about all the time. So I've decided I'll take my special roo inside. Right now he's calmed down and is sleeping on my lap with my little chicky, and he stopped mama calling a long time ago after he got used to me cuddling him. I think he could be tamed if I kept him separated since he's such a sweetheart.

Okay now to debate my idea.

I have a pullet who is my house chick, she's a tiny OEGB mix and she's always with me. My big boy shamo cockerel is like 3x her size but he's never shown any aggression towards her (actually a bit submissive to her) and I was wondering if I could raise them together. I separated my little girl from the rest from the day she hatched because she was so tiny…. so is it even possible for my to raise a very very full-size rooster with a very very bantam hen? He seems to not mind her, she wanted to take a bite out of him for a while but has given up on the endeavor after she became used to him.

I'd like to maybe raise them together. If he stays gentle enough (he seems to be a subordinate rooster and I think he'll stay that way. I don't want him getting killed, and he's gorgeous too.) i would want him as a pet roo as well. I could keep maybe another girl to stay with my hen and these two would either get the chicken diaper (don't laugh at me DX) or the indoor cage where they play outside during the day. I'd think my little girl would stay indoors all the time since she's little but if they bonded maybe they'd stick together?

The other chicks go to my friend and she'll have to make rooster sacrifices… and i don't want it to be this guy.


Any ideas?

 

[KBlue]

You can always give it a whirl. Sounds like you are off to a good start, though keep an eye out for any aggression (from either party).

 

[HetaChick]

Yeah It's what i'm doing. My little girl seems to want to pick at him because he's interesting but he's so scared f being hurt he draws away. I'm hoping they'll bond. I think my pullet is jealous because I'm holding him too….

 

[welasharon]

I have three araucana hens in with my o shamo. He mates them. I can't imagine any rooster not trying to mate any hen they are around. Is he o shamo or ko?

 

[HetaChick]

He's got to be O Shamo. He is truly a huge bird. I'll take a picture if the two together and post. She's a mix (someone with a pea comb mated with her English Game mom) and he's just…. gigantic shamo. The chicks are the same age and maybe hatched a day part.

 

[welasharon]

As was said....you can give it a shot. Just keep an eye on them. I had not intended to keep the araucanas with the shamo but the shamo hens were a tad older and picked on the male so he tended to hang with the araucanas. Now he is the biggest and has put his hens in their places but had claimed the araucanas as well so I left them. It seems to work. I did notice the other day that when he tops them he straddles them and keeps his feet on the ground on each side of them....where there's a will, there's a way.
sharon

 

[HetaChick]

This is him when he was a few days old. He was my favorite from then he was the biggest then and the prettiest. He looks like a little husky!


He's on the right and she's standing up. He's not.

You can see what the other rooster did to his face. His wings got attacked too but he has always been a bit bare. His body grows faster than his feathers.


Here they both are you can see how huge he is and he's not even standing up straight like he usually does. I'm hoping these two can learn to be get along, he's already calming down to the point he comes to me and starts to follow me. He's fast lol

 

[HetaChick]

Good news they seem to be getting along even better =) It makes me really happy to see this. Both are outcasts… it's nice that they may just finally have another bird-friend

 

[lethldragon]

Little aiko is turning out to be a good looking chick, are you sure the cockeral is shamo? What kind were the ones picking on him?

 

[HetaChick]

Yes he is definitely Shamo no doubt with him. I'll post more pictures, but right now he's not so handsome, his feathers aren't keeping up with his size.
The others were Shamo and Shamo crosses, (I know ones an EExShamo, but idk about the others.) They have the thick beaks long thick legs and the right stance, and they sure like fighting around the yard. They've established pecking order now with out him with them but as soon as he goes in with them another black roo goes crazy and fights him, and then goes after everyone else.