Rooster & Hen (13 weeks)- Inseparable! What to do?

[kara_aus]

So I have two gorgeous Australorps which I hatched. They were raised together just the two of them until they were 4/5 weeks old when they joined 2 older hens. Now one is a rooster and it's set to move in with a family friend on property as a pet without other chooks. However, they are still the best of friends and so tame and lovely. They actively will seek out cuddles and jump on your lap together. If one comes, the other will always follow. They sleep next to each other and roam around the garden together. They are sweet hearts.

My question is, would it be cruel to remove the rooster only? Would it be possible to rehome just the 2 of them? I read everywhere that this can make life hard on female. But these guys have already broken so many of the normal rules and this rooster is so tame. Can this work?

Thank you!!!

 

[CluckerFamily]

Chickens need other chickens... do you just have the two or do you have more if you keep the hen?
Part of the roosters roll is to protect the flock, the ladies will follow the rooster around for protection.

 

[Sahraschweiss]

This is my first year with chickens, but I have observed lots. I had two batches of chicks. Twelve bought in March, and eight bought in May. The May bunch had one cockerel. His girls loved and he loved his girls. There were cuddles, following and leading, grooming each other. It was a bounded love fest until he lost interest.

From my experience, Cockerels mature faster than pullets. The young boy started having his hormones kick in around 12-15 weeks. That was about the time the older girls had started or were about to lay. The older girls became very interesting, and the younger not so much. He would still protect the younger girls, but would spend less and time with them and more time trying to win the affection of the older girls. Now some of the younger ones are getting to point of lay and they are becoming interesting again. Also the younger ones are just now getting fully integrated into the older flock, where before they seemed to stick together as a sub flock even though they've been fully merged since August.

My point is that while you little pullet might be his bestie now, they might drift off as they mature differently.

 

[kara_aus]

This is my first year with chickens, but I have observed lots. I had two batches of chicks. Twelve bought in March, and eight bought in May. The May bunch had one cockerel. His girls loved and he loved his girls. There were cuddles, following and leading, grooming each other. It was a bounded love fest until he lost interest.

From my experience, Cockerels mature faster than pullets. The young boy started having his hormones kick in around 12-15 weeks. That was about the time the older girls had started or were about to lay. The older girls became very interesting, and the younger not so much. He would still protect the younger girls, but would spend less and time with them and more time trying to win the affection of the older girls. Now some of the younger ones are getting to point of lay and they are becoming interesting again. Also the younger ones are just now getting fully integrated into the older flock, where before they seemed to stick together as a sub flock even though they've been fully merged since August.

My point is that while you little pullet might be his bestie now, they might drift off as they mature differently.

Interesting, thank you! I think the friendship is mutual though thus far, they've just hit 14 weeks. Probably influenced by the fact they were hatched together (by me) and hand reared and when their 3rd little mate die at 5 days old, it was just the two of them for so long discovering the world haha.