New rooster and he is too huge to fit in hen house will he be ok?

[calamitykate]

My new RIR rooster arrived today and he is reluctant to go in the hen coop as firstly, there are ten hens in there, and also he is about the size of three hens, enormous !
Also they are not too friendly towards him yet as there was a bit of fighting at first, now they are keeping out of his way.
Although, however, I think he has established the "pecking order", he is still not feeling safe enough to go in with them. So he has settled down for the night outside the coop right near the doorway, he is still in the enclosure so he is safe ( don't think much would take him on, even the JRT looked nervous when he arrived!) , but he is on the ground and the ground is frozen.
There is a roof over him but I am just wondering if he will freeze overnight!
its about - 1 in the Scottish Highlands now. I put some hay down and a decent size log for him to perch on if he wants to get off the ground but he s not chosen to do so. So what do you think?
Advice please.
Oh and I've called him Peter!

 

[sourland]

I'd be tempted to place Peter in the coop after it gets dark. 'the cold will be stressful and might even freeze his comb.

 

[calamitykate]

I put him on a piece of rubber backed carpet, and surrounded the sides with wood panels so in effect he is in an extension of the coop now, but there is no perch' til tomorrow. He seems happier. Its not so cold now temps about 2 degrees.

 

[calamitykate]

The coop is only about 3 mtrs square inside, but it says its designed for 12 chickens! outer enclosure is another ten mtrs and then the free range bit where they are let out in the morning is 50 cubic metres surrounded by electric fencing.

 

[calamitykate]

Hes not socialised yet, so not been able to catch him, he only arrived at 3pm and its dark by 5pm atm.

 

[missnu01]

Yeah, I would grab him and put him inside...That way he learns that inside is where he lives.

 

[calamitykate]

Just a bit worried in case being so crowed they fight. The hen house is supposed to take 12! but cant see it myself, though hubby says its ok. Anyone else got a hen house like this?

 

[Jakenhoss]

Just a bit worried in case being so crowed they fight. The hen house is supposed to take 12! but cant see it myself, though hubby says its ok. Anyone else got a hen house like this?

My coop is approx. 3w x 4L and is designed to hold 12 chickens. I added two extra roost as it only came with one. I presently have 11 hens in there but I have had as many as 15. Some of them such as the Cochins, which never learned to roost, sleep on the floor. I can comfortably have 6 regular sized birds on each perch with the two one the floor which would be 20 birds. But, I didn't really want all of my flock in one coop so I built two more for comfortability. One is a 2x2x2 and the other is a 4x4x4. I have the same problem that 2 of my roos don't want to sleep inside and one of them has in turn turned the hens into outside birds as well. I have to go down to the pen every night to put everyone in there perspective coops.

 

[Jakenhoss]

My coop is approx. 3w x 4L and is designed to hold 12 chickens. I added two extra roost as it only came with one. I presently have 11 hens in there but I have had as many as 15. Some of them such as the Cochins, which never learned to roost, sleep on the floor. I can comfortably have 6 regular sized birds on each perch with the two one the floor which would be 20 birds. But, I didn't really want all of my flock in one coop so I built two more for comfortability. One is a 2x2x2 and the other is a 4x4x4. I have the same problem that 2 of my roos don't want to sleep inside and one of them has in turn turned the hens into outside birds as well. I have to go down to the pen every night to put everyone in there perspective coops.

I forgot to add, there is no fighting except when they first go in, they are fighting for "their" spot.

 

[Jakenhoss]

I have 3 buff orpington/cochins that I hatched out last Spring. They are all roos and weigh around 8-9 pounds. One of them lives in a 2x2x2 coop that I built for a different hen. She has decided she wants to be with the rest of the flock and not by herself, so when I hatched this chick I was hoping it was a female but I was surprised when "she" crowed. Any way, the opening to the coop is only about 1 foot square. He gets in there just fine but he shares the house with only 2 other girls. They all start off sleeping on top of the coop but I go out at dusk and put them all inside. I live in central to northern AZ so it really isn't that cold. I think the coldest it has gotten is 10 degres. Unlike where you are. I would worry that Peter will get frost bite and some of it can get pretty serious.
Good luck to you. and Happy New Year.