Rooster help

[beegirl4]

I'm sure this has been discussed numerous times....sorry.
I'm new to chickens. Earlier this year, I purchased some pullets. Needless to say, my Buff Orpington is not a hen, it's a rooster. He is beautiful and very nice with people and my dominique, but he is aggressive to my 3 others. They are petrified of him and when they free range (every day), they hide about 8 feet up in the trees ALL DAY. They never come down and we literally have to shake the tree to get them down at night. I have been keeping them in a separate coop...Am I making it worse? My husband thinks I am absolutely insane spending all this time separating them....I know a rooster should have more than 4 hens. I'd like a find new home for the roo, but it seems hard to do....so far no takers.
Any advice would be great.

 

[iwiw60]

If your roo is making life miserable for your other 3 hens then me personally? I say it's time to go bye-bye, whether via giving him away or the stew pot. What a shame those 3 hens have to spend their day up in a tree instead of being...well...a chicken! Put an ad on Craigs List or call the SPCA in your area....wishing you well!

 

[beegirl4]

Oh geez- thanks. I was hoping that it was going to just get better. I wonder if I get a few more hens if he will be more distracted? (My husband will kill me...lol) I have two small coops and today I left the hens in their run and let Henry out to free range. He has been circling the girls coop all day. I haven't seen him move more than a foot away. Am I making him crazy? Can they live like that ? I'm guessing not. It's the same situation if they are in a tree though- he stays right under in case one falls and then he goes nuts!

 

[ShockValue]

By aggressive, do you mean attacking, or just trying to roughly mate with them?

 

[beegirl4]

I'm not even sure.

The Dominique is very "easy" - so I've seen him with her and its not a big deal. He really leavs her alone for the most part. The other three birds I have are from a classroom (teacher hatched them then asked if I would take them). She said they were "brown laying hens".... (?) Anyway, they are skittish and run around like they are being tortured so maybe he is really just trying to mate with them but it looks wwwaay worse. They scream and run in circles and feathers fly everywhere...then they fly to a tree and stay there all day.

 

[aart]

How old are the 3 classroom chickens?
How long had you had the first 2 before getting the 3?

You may be dealing with both integration issues as well as a rooster issue.
More info is needed before offering a possible solution but here's some tips on integration:

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact. Integrating new birds of equal size works best.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places to hide out of line of sight and/or up and away from bully birds.


Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration

 

[beegirl4]

Thank you! I got the rooster and the Dominique in March and they were 6/7 weeks old (along with two others who "disappeared" one day). The three classroom chickens are about 5/6 weeks younger, but I have had them for about 5 weeks. Henry still has serious issues with them. I think maybe because they don't follow his rules.

Is it wrong to keep them in separate coops at night? I hate thinking about them being trapped with him. At least during the day when I let them out they can run around and hide. I do have multiple feeding stations too.

 

[Mrs. K]

Roosters are a crap shoot, some are very good, some are not. Personally, I like a rooster that has been raised in a flock, where there are much bigger birds around him as he grows up. I think it gives them manners. Often time with flock mates, and the in your case the younger ones exaggerate this, the roo grows the fastest, and gets much bigger than the pullets. This often times makes him a bully.

The thing is, you are not happy with this set up, and your hens are not happy. Cull him, either physically, or let someone else do it. You will have a much happier flock, and you will enjoy the hobby more.

Mrs. K

 

[BethanyS]

We have new chicks and kept them in a pen inside the big fence were our Roo and 6 hens free range. they are 4weeks old now and when I let them loose into the yard no problems arose.If you want them to get used to him keep them side by side but separated between fencing ,visible to one another. a sleeping arrangement separated with chicken wire may help.Those who sleep together peep together lol As for the roo I have always been top bird in the yard.When I'm outside I push him off the hens.If he starts following me or staring me down I scoop him up and hold him on his back untill he is relaxed.When he first came of age he would really get after them in the a.m.I few mornings I just held him to the ground for 5
minutes or so and let the hens enjoy the show.He is a gentleman now they adore him...hope it works out

 

[BethanyS]

A couple more hens might be a good idea...tell your Hubby you will make lots of tasty egg dishes