Separating Bonded Chickens

[hbutkus5]

So I have four chickens, and two are believed to be roosters. We can't keep any roosters due to the rules in our area. The two roosters are both part of separate bonded pairs. If I take one away, the hen absolutely freaks out and it's really sad to watch. I am going to have to separate them eventually however. How do you guys recommend I do this without causing a lot of anxiety to the chickens.

 

[Kruchti]

No idea ,

 

[aart]

I gather from your other posts that they are only about 6 weeks old?
'Bonded pairs' meaning they are housed in 2 separate enclosures?

Just get it over with, they'll adjust pretty quickly(within a day or two).
Chickens don't like change, but they get over it.

 

[Redhead Rae]

It might be easier to remove the cockerels after they've gone to bed and move them out of sight and sound of the ones you are keeping. Use a red light to see by. A flashlight would just wake the birds up and they would cause a ruckus.

 

[aart]

It might be easier to remove the cockerels after they've gone to bed and move them out of sight and sound of the ones you are keeping. Use a red light to see by. A flashlight would just wake the birds up and they would cause a ruckus.

Good idea to do it at night...a dim or colored headlight would work too.
I just use the headlight and move the light away fast enough so they can't see where they might want to try to go.

 

[hbutkus5]

Ok. And no they aren't in separate hutches, but two were hatched together, same for the other two so they really like that chicken and not so much the other two of that makes sense

 

[aart]

Ok. And no they aren't in separate hutches, but two were hatched together, same for the other two so they really like that chicken and not so much the other two of that makes sense

Well, just because they hatched together doesn't mean they have an unchangeable bond.
But chickens are flock animals and definitely find comfort in their numbers..
Any change can/will make them 'upset', but they soon adjust if they have feed, water, a secure enclosure and at least one companion. Toss down some scratch and they'll forget all about it.
They may fuss and rant and rave and pace at first but will settle in with their 'new' buddy pretty quickly. Making changes like that is much easier when they are smaller than waiting until they get older. It might be easier on them, and you, if you put the enclosures out of sight of one another for the first few days.

It takes some time to learn about chicken behaviors/needs and can be hard not to anthropomorphize, they don't have the complex thoughts and emotions that humans do.

 

[hbutkus5]

Ok! Thank you! I'm new to this whole chicken thing so I want to do it right.

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree, get it over, they are not life long mates. They hate change and may squawk for a day or two, but most of the time they don't really notice.

Mrs K

 

[bobbi-j]

I agree with Aart and Mrs. K. Get it done, they'll get over it. Most of the fuss is because of change, not necessarily missing another bird.