Rooster Flock Thread

[leighks]

@leighks: Wow! I've seen supermarket chickens with more feathers on their backs than those! Your hens will be happy to be getting a break

Your rooster will adapt. Sounds like his behaviour has already improved significantly. He definitely needs the timeout for a while, at least until it's cool enough for you to put the saddles back on the girls.

I know!! Sad but true, my poor hens. I agree, today he started eating better and seems to be adapting to his new living situation.

 

[leighks]

My buckeye hens used to look like that. That actually inspired me to get a roo. My ex battery leghorns were picking the crap out of the poor girls. Mr. Roo stopped that pretty darn quick.

That’s great that you have ex battery hens- sorry to hear they were bullies tho!

I agree that roosters can be great at keeping order with the hens. Mine all have fenced outdoor space, but when time allows for it I supervise them for some free range time- we have too many predators to let them do that if I’m not out there with them. When the roo was with the hens, he kept them together and wrangled any stragglers that went too deep into the fields- and they listened to him. Without him, the girls are running all over willy nilly and don’t care what I do or say to keep them together! Makes me appreciate the good job he did!

 

[leighks]

Update: as of today, about 1.5 weeks after separating my roo from the girls, he finally stopped sulking and is getting into his new routine. He still likes to see the hens most of the time but he will also finally do his own thing sometimes too. He’s eating better (but now I got him into the bad habit of wanting hand feeding in the evening- I think he likes the attention!) and tonight for the 1st time he went into his run at bedtime without me luring him in. He hasn’t shown any aggression toward people since living alone and he’s hardly doing that weird sad cry.

I’m wondering how long I should keep him separate? My goals are to reduce human aggression (so far lookin good) and give the hens a break from overmating. He’s 1 year and 3 months old. He will need to go back before it gets too cold, so here in western New York that gives me 3-4 mos if needed to be that long.

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

Update: as of today, about 1.5 weeks after separating my roo from the girls, he finally stopped sulking and is getting into his new routine. He still likes to see the hens most of the time but he will also finally do his own thing sometimes too. He’s eating better (but now I got him into the bad habit of wanting hand feeding in the evening- I think he likes the attention!) and tonight for the 1st time he went into his run at bedtime without me luring him in. He hasn’t shown any aggression toward people since living alone and he’s hardly doing that weird sad cry.

I’m wondering how long I should keep him separate? My goals are to reduce human aggression (so far lookin good) and give the hens a break from overmating. He’s 1 year and 3 months old. He will need to go back before it gets too cold, so here in western New York that gives me 3-4 mos if needed to be that long.

I had to put mine back with the girls. Had to put an injured roo where he was. After a day he's starting to vet overprotective already. So personally, I'd say at least a few more weeks at least.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Looking for suggestions @RoostersAreAwesome or anyone else. I have 5 hens and 1 roo, all turned a year old in April. The roo is a mixed breed, supposedly a black sex link. He started getting people aggressive in spring, and he was overmating the hens badly, even with hen saddles he’s tearing up their wings and backs of their heads. A week ago I finally separated him. I split their run and outdoor fenced area in half, so he can still see them most of the time. There’s just a wire fence between them. He has a separate coop where he now sleeps alone.

Since separating him, he has not shows an ounce of aggression to people. BUT he’s so unhappy. He makes a weird crying sound frequently during the day, he almost sounds like a duck. He’s not eating much at all. I hand feed him a few times a day. He paces the fence if he can’t see the hens well. I really don’t think he’s sick, but I know he’s stressed.

Feeling bad for him, I let him in with the hens and he instantly charged one and grabbed her, but she got away, then he immediately went for another one, who also got away. At that point I rounded him up and back to the separation area he went.

So I can either have 5 happy hens and a lonely rooster or 1 happy rooster and 5 bare, terrorized hens. I don’t want to give him away since I know he can be aggressive, and I don’t want him to be abused or mistreated even if someone did offer to take him. I can put up with his “bad” behavior since I still think he’s a good (but way too overprotective) boy but I hate seeing him so unhappy.

Any thoughts? Should I consider getting him some rooster friends to live with? My biggest fear is that it could make it worse. Then what to do with the additional roos?!? But I also feel status quo isn’t going well, not sure if time will change that since it’s only been a week. Thanks.

Update: as of today, about 1.5 weeks after separating my roo from the girls, he finally stopped sulking and is getting into his new routine. He still likes to see the hens most of the time but he will also finally do his own thing sometimes too. He’s eating better (but now I got him into the bad habit of wanting hand feeding in the evening- I think he likes the attention!) and tonight for the 1st time he went into his run at bedtime without me luring him in. He hasn’t shown any aggression toward people since living alone and he’s hardly doing that weird sad cry.

I’m wondering how long I should keep him separate? My goals are to reduce human aggression (so far lookin good) and give the hens a break from overmating. He’s 1 year and 3 months old. He will need to go back before it gets too cold, so here in western New York that gives me 3-4 mos if needed to be that long.

Maybe try a supervised meeting with the hens after a month or so. If that doesn't work, keep him separate for as long as you can, his hormones might calm down by then.

Hi all

Thanks for this thread. As soon as I no longer need my grow out coop this fall, I'm moving my boys in. You have helped to ease my fears a lot.

2 of my boys had a fairly nasty encounter a few days ago. One was free ranging with his hens, the other was in a run with his girls. Thank goodness there was a welded wire fence between them, otherwise I'm sure one of them wouldn't be here any longer. Roos of this breed are infamous for fighting to the death if there are hens around.

If I have the roos in a completely separate building and run from the hens, about 100 yards away, do you think it would be beneficial to put up a visual block?

It depends on the roosters. If they keep pacing the fence after a couple weeks, you probably need to add the visual block, but I don't think it's absolutely necessary unless the roosters remain distressed over the loss of their hens for longer than is healthy.

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

I lost 2 of my 3 roos recently, which left me with 1 and several young cockrels. I've moved them to a separate coop and run and so far everything is going perfectly. That may change as the boys get a bit older, but for now it's great.

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

Having a roo flock is working out amazingly well! Girls are so laid back, as are the boys. Crowing has reduced in frequency even.

 

[MROO]

I really enjoy my Bachelor Flock. There are four Nankin Bantams and Yukon, my oddball Red Pyle OEGB. They are all SO much more mellow, now that they're not competing for the ladies. I've been home, sick for about a week, so I've been taking a comfy camp chair out to the coop and letting them out to free range a bit while I play Mama Guard Dog. They don't "range" very far - just from the clover patch to my knee and back. It's wonderful therapy!

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

I really enjoy my Bachelor Flock. There are four Nankin Bantams and Yukon, my oddball Red Pyle OEGB. They are all SO much more mellow, now that they're not competing for the ladies. I've been home, sick for about a week, so I've been taking a comfy camp chair out to the coop and letting them out to free range a bit while I play Mama Guard Dog. They don't "range" very far - just from the clover patch to my knee and back. It's wonderful therapy!

Isn't it? I just sit with them and almost kind of zone out. I don't even realize that I've been sitting there for hours.

These 2 are so sweet. Buckeye x silkie. They're low down on the pecking order, but the boys don't seem to have as defined pecking order as the girls do.

 

[Raptorchick]

Hi all! I've got 12 up-coming chicks, 6ish weeks old, 5 of which appear to be cockerels. I also have 7 seramas (2.5 months old), 5 are cockerels. My original flock is 5 buff orpington hens, 1 bantam roo (flock king), 1 RIR roo (very submissive). The seramas and chicks have thus far been raised together, and have formed their own subflock. Last week I integrated everyone together (into a 20x40 run with 2 coops), and things are going great. Probably helps that the young chicks have their own coop to sleep and hide in.
End game plans are to make the "chick coop" into a smaller run within the big run, to house the seramas separate.
My other coop/run (10x25ish) will be the rooster flock home/bachelor pad.
Right now, chicks are small, seem to be getting along. I've seen challenges happen, the worst being last night, when 2 seramas ganged up on my largest chick (who held his own, but I stepped in). How old do I need to separate the boys ? And they've met the adult roos, any ideas on what age would be best to put them together separate from the hens? My bantam roo is a little bully, so I'm worried about his aggression, or even him getting his butt kicked.
And last question, it goes against my original plans, but has anyone kept serama hens and normal hens together without issue?
Thanks ahead