Rooster is running my hen away

[Kraftymama38]

I am new to chickens our neighbors moved out and left 3 baby chickens so we felt bad for them and bought a chicken coop from tractor supply and made a chicken run for them .I've never owned chickens so when that rooster finally crowed it was a mighty crow awsome i love it .well he killed the other rooster before we could get it out we had no idea they would do that.but now it's just him and the hen and he's been running her away from the treats I throw on the ground how do I know he's letting her eat or not you know the food thats in the hen house ?

 

[nuthatched]

Cull him and get some gals for your gal.

 

[FrostRanger]

I second culling him, he's not shaping up to be a good roo. You need more hens regardless as even if you were to keep him he would overbreed your existing pullet badly. Both you and her will be much happier if you get rid of the cockerel and get some more females. I would actually advise waiting a few years when you're more experienced with chickens to get a roo. A good roo is a joy to have around, but a bad roo can ruin the whole chicken keeping experience and unfortunately there are a good bit of bad roos. A good roo will protect and care for his hens and be civil with people. Good roos will actually give up his treats to get in good with the girls, he'll make sure his hens get the best bits of food. The best way to get a good roo is mutual respect and not putting up with a bad roo

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Chickens are flock animals. Your hen needs companions. She needs other hens about her own age. But you would need to quarantine any newcomers for about a month, so do a search on this site for articles on quarantining. You don't want to introduce illness, fleas, mites or lice to your bird or contaminate your coop. Then, you'll need a plan to integrate the new birds with your hen. You can do a search for articles on that, too, when you're ready, or ask for help.

As for the rooster - you don't need one unless you plan on hatching chicks. You'll still get eggs. I suggest putting hatching off for a while. There's s lot to learn about the care and feeding of chickens before you go there.

 

[Kraftymama38]

Chickens are flock animals. Your hen needs companions. She needs other hens about her own age. But you would need to quarantine any newcomers for about a month, so do a search on this site for articles on quarantining. You don't want to introduce illness, fleas, mites or lice to your bird or contaminate your coop. Then, you'll need a plan to integrate the new birds with your hen. You can do a search for articles on that, too, when you're ready, or ask for help.

As for the rooster - you don't need one unless you plan on hatching chicks. You'll still get eggs. I suggest putting hatching off for a while. There's s lot to learn about the care and feeding of chickens before you go there.

I've decided to give them away to good people that already have chickens and know more about how to care for them thank you everyone for the kind words of wisdom that helped me make my decision.