Rooster challenges

[Tonjadan222]

Hi i am new to raising chicks and I have a rooster named Jimmy that I love dearly. Hes around 6 mo old so he's a still young but He's awsome. He's also very aggressive to my chicks and my boyfriend. He's never done anything to me per say but has bit my boyfriend quite a few times. We don't actually need a rooster for anything besides protection so We decided the best option for us was to give him to a farm with 50 or 60 chicks. The problem is they have a rooster already and I don't want Jim to get hurt or the other rooster for that matter. I feel like having him here provided a lot better protection for my chicks. I was wondering if there was a way I could keep Jimmy in a separate pen from the girls either for the day or night and let them be together sometimes?my boyfriend says that would be cruel to do that to Jimmy and he would go crazy not being able to get to them . The chicks are way less stressed out now that he's gone. But when I let the girls out to free range now I'm stressed out bcuz they don't really keep an eye out for predators. We live in the middle of the woods and We have an owl and hawks that live here too. We let them out for an hour or two per night and stay out there the whole time guarding them. When they were younger they free ranged all day because I didn't believe in keeping chickens cooked up but a hawk got one of our Americaunas so I don't think they'll ever be free range again so I'm not sure what to do about him. He's been at the farm for 4 days and she says he's doing great thanks for any advice.

 

[azygous]

If I read your post correctly, you've already rehomed the cockerel. It would be best to leave him where he is instead of shifting him back and forth. That induces unnecessary stress.

But to answer your original question, yes, it's possible to keep a rooster in a separate pen separate from the hens to eliminate conflict. He will be perfectly content as long as he can see the girls through the barrier and still communicate with them. It's not "cruel."

Your boyfriend is projecting his own emotions onto the roo, and he's thinking a rooster reacts in the same way as a human male that is deprived of female contact. Different animals entirely.

 

[Chickassan]

Is Jimmy actually aggressive to your hens or is he just going through that dumb teenage stage all roosters go through? If he's just being a youngster a few more months and he should be over it anyway. The biting your boyfriend might change too, roosters really are jerks when they are going through puberty.

 

[Folly's place]

Then again, having him gone is best for everyone! Mary

 

[The Moonshiner]

I think you've made the right decision and you're feeling guilty or second guessing your decision is all. Perfectly normal to do.
No chicken is going to be happy penned all alone but I think you already know that.

 

[Mrs. K]

Problem is solved, undoing it would create havoc on the rooster, on the chicks, and he could bring back other things.