Hello all, We recently purchased a small farm with a large chicken coop. Before I could get the coop ready (it leaks) I inherited 13 chickens - 3 roosters and 10 hens. We made a storage shed into a coop and everything seems fine except one of the roosters seems to be "getting the business". It roosted on the floor last night, and this afternoon when feeding it was in the corner facing the wall. What should I do/not do. I've been reading, reading, reading but can't find anything about this. Thanks for your advice in advance. John A
How big is the storage shed? And do the birds have a pen in addition, or free-roam? 3 roosters is too many for just 10 hens, so you may want to consider your housing and which birds you will want to keep.
The shed is 14' x 14'. We have only had the chickens 3 days. Most information I have found says that I should keep them penned up for a week or two before letting them out to free range or they may not come back to roost. Is this information correct? We weren't really ready to take the chickens, but the guy was moving and said he was going to just leave them for the coyotes. He kept a lama with them but sold the lama before he left.Since we got them, they are all eating/drinking and some are laying. The only problem seems to be the one rooster. -
You're correct, that you should keep the chickens locked in for a week or they won't roost or lay where you want them to. 14'x14' is plenty big enough for those 13 chickens. You could separate the unhappy rooster, maybe. Do you have a dog crate or something? Also, does the left-out rooster seem injured, or like he's getting his feathers pulled, or is he just unhappy in his new place? Last time I integrated pullets, I had a couple that roosted on the floor and stayed in the corners for over a week, just out of fear of the new place. Now it's hard to tell them apart from the rest of the flock. You could just give him time. And, I agree with the above poster about the numbers of roosters--three is a lot for 10 chickens. You really just need one. With more, you may have more rooster aggression than you want to deal with.
I would think its probably an issue of too many roosters as well. That poor guy is probably the low one on the rooster pecking order and is being picked on (possibly by the boys and the girls).... :/ Nikki
