Hi,
I have 13 Golden comet girls, and two roos. They all came together as day-olds (supposed to be all RIR pullets). They are 7 1/2 months old now.
One of my roos has a bloody area on the front of his neck, a bit to one side, just under those lovely long neck feathers. A couple of the hens pick at him every time they get near, and I'm concerned about his welfare. I don't really have a way to isolate him; even a dog crate in the house would be a real problem, as the house is in the midst of renovation and we currently have two adults, five dogs, and four cats stuffed into three rooms downstairs. The upstairs is not heated. We have a basement, but just last night we caught a big rat down there, and I doubt it's the only one. Also, the basement is not heated, though it's much warmer than outside. We heat with wood, so there's no furnace creating any heat...
I could MAYBE figure out a way to fit a dog crate in the chicken house but I don't have a large enough plastic one, and the other birds would certainly roost on top of a wire one. Also, my wire crates are for big dogs - I'm pretty sure chicken heads could go in and out of the wire spaces.
It's not the other roo bothering him; they pretty much ignore each other (so far), but I'm afraid the hens are going to peck him to pieces. Naturally, he's a predominantly white roo, so even though there's not much of it, the blood really shows....
Any suggestions??
Oh - and if I do separate him, will I have trouble from my other roo when I re introduce him? I'd sure hate to have them fighting, they get along well right now...
I have 13 Golden comet girls, and two roos. They all came together as day-olds (supposed to be all RIR pullets). They are 7 1/2 months old now.
One of my roos has a bloody area on the front of his neck, a bit to one side, just under those lovely long neck feathers. A couple of the hens pick at him every time they get near, and I'm concerned about his welfare. I don't really have a way to isolate him; even a dog crate in the house would be a real problem, as the house is in the midst of renovation and we currently have two adults, five dogs, and four cats stuffed into three rooms downstairs. The upstairs is not heated. We have a basement, but just last night we caught a big rat down there, and I doubt it's the only one. Also, the basement is not heated, though it's much warmer than outside. We heat with wood, so there's no furnace creating any heat...
I could MAYBE figure out a way to fit a dog crate in the chicken house but I don't have a large enough plastic one, and the other birds would certainly roost on top of a wire one. Also, my wire crates are for big dogs - I'm pretty sure chicken heads could go in and out of the wire spaces.
It's not the other roo bothering him; they pretty much ignore each other (so far), but I'm afraid the hens are going to peck him to pieces. Naturally, he's a predominantly white roo, so even though there's not much of it, the blood really shows....
Any suggestions??
Oh - and if I do separate him, will I have trouble from my other roo when I re introduce him? I'd sure hate to have them fighting, they get along well right now...
