new rooster

[presley]

Ok yall, I bought a very nice young cuckoo marans roo yesterday. I feel very good about the breeder, his birds are state inspected and vaccinated and all that. Well I brought him home, and I did keep him in the cage for a full 24 hours, guess that wasn't long enough. While he was in there, the other hens would come up to the cage and "challange" him, and he acted like he was standing up to them, I mean they were backing away. But it was a different story for the most part today since I have let him out of the cage. He is not backing down, he is for the the most part running away from the dominant hens, and is hiding out in the coop. I put him back in the cage for his own protection! Is this normal for hens to do young roosters that way? The hens are youngs also, only 1 is laying, but all the rest should be anytime now. The roo is about 4 months old. How long do you think this will go on? Should I leave him in the cage, or just let them work it out?



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[gritsar]

Quote:
It's pretty normal for older hens to give young upstart cockerels a hard time. If they are not drawing blood I'd let them work it out.
It's always best to quarantine new birds no matter how good the sellers facilities look, but *stuff* happens. I had two brand new roos escape quarantine yesterday so I know just how it feels. Chickens don't always play by the same rules as humans.