Need advice !!! my Tom is getting mean!

[CanChaser]

I raised my Tom and hen from chicks and they are over one year old now. The Tom was starting to go after the kids but now he stopped and just goes after my husband. Here is the part I'm really upset about. I hatched some of their eggs in my incubator. They got pretty big but not full grown. We put them out with our other poultry which is free range and the Tom killed them. I'm just sick over it because I raised them from eggs. Will he do this everytime? I have chickens, geese, and ducks and he doesn't kill those.

 

[Judy]

Many will tell you it's time to put him in the freezer and find a new one. I've never had a rooster attack partly grown chicks -- though the hens will. There are plenty of good roosters out there, and this is an option. However, integration is always a bit risky, and it's safest to introduce new birds gradually. Having them in a fenced area nest to the older ones for a few weeks is a common way to do it.

 

[CanChaser]

Thanks! Yeah we had the babies in a pen outside for a while b4 turning them free and the Tom could see them and get up to the pen but he killed them anyway. I hate getting rid of him as I raised him and feel attached to him but we would like to raise babies too. Not sure what to do.

 

[jackietheturkeylover]

separate pens?