Putting Rooster back with Hens

[kcpaull]

We had three roosters but kept the two younger ones in a pen by themselves as we only had 10 hens. Long story short, the original rooster was very aggressive towards my husband, then one day attacked my face when I reached to pick up a bucket I'd dropped. The next rooster was a brute and my husband gave up having a rooster at all. That isn't working very well. They don't stay together as a flock, they constantly bicker and we've lost two in the last week to some sort of predator, most likely a fox or coyote.

We've put our remaining rooster, Marco, in a cage inside the coop and the hens don't seem to mind. They know him as his pen was within their ranging area and he always called them over when I gave him treats. He is a Buff Orpington X Easter Egger mix and was the least aggressive of the three. He has lived in that coop before, was hatched there, in fact. What I need to know is how long to keep him in the cage to get him to see that coop as his home? Or will he just follow the hens to the coop?

 

[50-45-1]

Im sure he will follow the hens and stay with them. You will want to watch closely , there will likely be some reorgination of the pecking order.
If he is young he may be rough on the girls whem mating , or they may beat him up.
I would put him up on the roost with the rest of the flock after dark , and let them out to the run or free range early on the morning,
Let us know what happens if someone starts drawing blood, then intervine by removing somebody.
Good luck!

 

[sawilliams]

In my experience when I pen chickens separately within the run. It can take a few days or longer for them to move to the coop. Usually what I do is just to open the pen in the morning so they can mingle then close it again at night if he goes back to the pen. Once he seems adjusted to the flock you can go down early and close the pen so he can't sleep in there but be be outside to check a little early at roosting time to make sure he follows the others to the coop. Chances are with a few days of freedom he will have a chance to explore the coop again and will move there either when he decides it's the better place or as soon as he can't get to his old sleeping area. It usually doesn't take too much work, but on the rare occasion he isn't sure what to do yet he will likely try to roost on top of the pen. Wait till its just a little past dark and grab him and place him in the coop. I have a permanent intro pen in my run but you can remove yours as soon as you feel he is safe with the flock, just make sure he is either sleeping in the coop or there isn't a place he can hide if he choose not to go to the coop.

 

[aart]

How old are these birds?

 

[Mrs. K]

I am very sure, he will stay with the hens. A single rooster is the easiest of integrations in my experience. Just put him in there, he will follow the girls, see this is the best place and they will all roost together from the get go. The only questionable part is his age. However, I am assuming that he is over 6 months.

 

[kcpaull]

How old are these birds?

The hens are two years old and the rooster is just over a year old. We have some young pullets and a few chicks, but the chicks have been adopted by his mother and he's terrified of her.

 

[Chickassan]

Should be easy peasy to intro that age rooster and have him fall into the routine.

 

[kcpaull]

Everything seems to have gone off very well, however, tonight when it was time to go to roost, he chased all but two of the hens and the young pullets out. The poor hens were terrified and wouldn't even go into the run and hid under the shrubbery. I went in and grabbed him by his feet off the roost and sat and rubbed his wattles while my husband coaxed the hens in. We decided it would be safer to just shut the door to the coop and make him sleep in the run tonight. I cannot imagine why he wouldn't let those hens in, except I don't think he's mated with them, yet. Is he being mean because they aren't ready to mate at the moment or is something else going on? I'm mystified.

 

[kcpaull]

This evening, Marco wouldn't let the hens in again. I couldn't catch him, so we herded the hens to the run and closed the door, then let him in once they were locked in the coop. He'll have to spend another night in the run. At this rate, I may have to build him his own little coop in the run. It's supposed to rain this weekend. As annoying as he is, he's really a nice rooster towards us humans. His father was a sneaky twerp who would ignore us for days then attack us from behind or if we bent down to reach something. Is he going to do this until they all submit to his crappy pick up lines?

 

[kcpaull]

Tonight, I was feeling like crap, so my husband said he'd try getting the chickens in by himself. The past few nights I have grabbed the rooster while my husband coaxed the hens in the coop. Tonight, the hens were all in the coop and the rooster was on his roosting poll outside the coop. I hope he's learned his lesson and will stop trying to keep them out. I may have to build him his own little house and put it up where his roost is. So far, we've had no rain that would bother him. He can always get under the nesting boxes that stick out from the side. Maybe he'll be a decent rooster. I'm not holding my breath though. A friend has a little rooster that was hand raised and she may let us get him if this roo doesn't do his job properly.