Rooster not allowing hens in roost

[sgrzybin]

I have two new roosters with a new batch of hens. They are all about 25 weeks old and have been blended with the older flock about 3 weeks ago. One of the new roosters will not let some of the new hens in their roost for the night. I assume that this is because he wants to mount them. This morning I saw that four hens spent the night outside of the roost.

I have about 60 birds, 4 of which are roosters. Two older and two younger. The Buff Orpington rooster has blended pretty good. The Amaericana rooster is the one with issues.

I need suggestions for this rooster as I do not want to lose hens because of him. Should I make him into soup? Should I isolate him?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Depending on your goals and how badly you want that cockerel, soup may be a good option. It's certainly an easy solution.

I'm not sure why that cockerel won't let the four pullets roost. It probably has something to do with dominance. Some of those interactions and dominance games can get complicated.

I'm not sure how he is acting toward them. With 60 chickens you should have a fairly massive roost system. Is he not allowing them in the coop at all or does he go to wherever they are when they try to go to the roosts? Is there roost space available so they can go to roost away from him?

One solution might be to add another roost to give them another place to go if it looks like that might help. I kind of doubt it but maybe.

Locking him in a cage where he can't bother them for a while might work. That would give him and them a chance to mature some more. The risk with that is that you might see some fighting when he rejoins the flock. I'd keep that cage in the coop where the other males don't totally forget him.

Good luck!

 

[sgrzybin]

Great questions - within the large coop there are two separate roosts where they are free to choose a roost of their liking. For the most part, they are very static in their roost choice. I have not witnessed the activity issue inside the coop, but the activity outside the coop is that when the hens approach the entrance, he will come out and chase them around the run.

 

[Mrs. K]

This might solve itself... I ‘d give it a week. More than that I think the rooster would be gone. Solve for the peace of the flock.