ROSTER AND NEW YOUNG HENS

[VikkD]

Hi. I have 1 rooster and 2 hens that are about a year old. I am adding 3 hens- they are 10 weeks old.

I built a separator in the run and the new hens have been exposed to the others since about the 2nd week in April.

Yesterday I opened the door to the separator, new hens came out, old hens chased them, pecked at them but my rooster grabbed one by the back of the neck and jumped on it.

Is he attacking her, trying to mate? I dont feel they are safe with him. What should I do?

 

[sourland]

It sounds as if he is trying to mate with her. I would separate them until the pullets are at POL.

 

[neo71665]

Yeah he was mating. X2 on leaving them separate till they are laying. A teenage rooster is something else and can easily harm young pullets even kill them.

 

[VikkD]

Oh yikes. I was hoping to combine them later this month- their space is getting tight. They won't lay until September. But, in the best interest of the new ones, I'll have to figure something out.

Thank you for the advice

 

[aart]

Oh yikes. I was hoping to combine them later this month- their space is getting tight. They won't lay until September. But, in the best interest of the new ones, I'll have to figure something out.

Thank you for the advice

Maybe put the male in the small space and integrate the females.

 

[VikkD]

I thought about that yesterday. I did manage to expand the space in the run. The rooster's "favorite" hen could use a break and it would be good for all the hens. Maybe switch him out from time to time.

Thank you.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not exactly sure what is going on but that does not sound right. At that age he should not be acting like a young brat. I know some people say it can take well over a year for a cockerel to mature into a real rooster but as far as I am concerned if it takes that long he doesn't have the instincts I want. To me, it's deciding for the peace of the flock. If a cockerel or rooster that age, whatever you want to call him, is doing that to a 10 week old pullet he has been "see but don't touch" for over two weeks I'd be looking for another male. There are too many good ones out there to put up with a bad one.

This is just me. I have certain standards for the boys and girls in the flock. A good friend once told me I was ruthless in how I manage my chickens. She was right. I still have issues with them but in general I have a pretty well behaved flock, at least by my standards.

You only have 6 total chickens. To me that implies you may not have a lot of room. I'm not talking about that 10 square feet per chicken in the run, I'm talking about real room where the young ones can get away and avoid the older ones. Lack of room can make behavioral problems much worse. If it is as tight as I fear you may have integration problems even without him. I don't know what your facilities look like or how big they are, I could be very wrong, but when I hear about behavioral problems room is one of the first things I think about. You have two separate behavioral problems, the hens attacking the chicks and the male attacking the chicks.

I did manage to expand the space in the run. The rooster's "favorite" hen could use a break and it would be good for all the hens. Maybe switch him out from time to time.

This could work. The extra room should make integrating the pullets with the hens easier. From what I read you are not over that hurdle yet. Once they are integrated you could even try letting him out when you can be around to observe. He may have been taking his cue from the two hens attacking those 3 chicks. In my opinion he should not have, he should be protecting all members of his flock. My goal in integration is that no one gets hurt. Putting him in time out for a while and getting those chicks integrated may achieve that. With chicken behaviors you just never know how they will act or what will work.

Good luck!

 

[VikkD]

Thank you. My run is 5'x10'. I do not shut them in the coop at night as I don't Have predators other than hawks. I do plan on expanding the coop this fall for winter to accommodate them all.

I let them in the yard for 4 hours each day during the week and all day Saturday and Sunday. He has gone after them in the yard and I've had to intervene. I honestly thought they would be used to each other by now. It's been 30 days or so.

As I said, I did expand the area for the younger ones and I think I'm going to put him in there from time to time to integrate the hens.

 

[VikkD]

This is what I did. They can get in the pet carrier or ontop of the partitioned Section. I'm gonna sit here for an hour and see how it goes then swap them out the the rooster.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Room is tight but all you can do is try. Good luck.