Seperate coop for my 3 roosters

[Laburnum-Roos]

Hi all

I have recently sectioned off a small area of our chicken run ( approximately 12 x 6 feet ) and have been putting our three Roos in there to give our 11 hens a break. We didn't want three Roos but we have now and love them all .

My question is

It's getting difficult every morning to get my Roos seperate from the other hens and putting them in their section, sometimes they run in there themselves other times I have to pick them up. We have put a small coop in there for some shelter from the wind etc and wanted to know if they could sleep in there or would it be better for them to sleep with the rest of the flock? Will this effect the pecking order? Or effect their imprint of their original coop?

Your advise will be very much appreciated

Below are two pictures of my sectioned off area.

Note that the coop in the picture is the Roosters for shelter in the day, this is not their coop for the night.

 

[Darceyhs]

How many hens do you have? And how badly do the roosters peck or affect them?

If the roosters aren't too bad don't worry about it too much because they are mainly protective and the pecking and that is only natural. If they are affecting the chickens maybe try and teach them not to hurt them somehow (remember a chickens stomach is their heart when training) make sure the roosters are mainly comfortable where they are and look as healthy as they can be.

 

[Laburnum-Roos]

Hi

11 hens at the moment, will be getting 2 more so the ratio to roosters isn't ideal. 3 hens have got bare backs, but have put saddles on them and feathers coming through already they are separated for most the day at the moment and allowed back with the hens on the evening. I was told not to let the Roos mate whilst on your present? Is this correct? The chickens have 350sq feet of run and are let out in the garden most evenings.

Cheers

 

[JadedPhoenix]

Roosters are driven by the desire to mate, not their stomachs in this case. You may need to think about a different set up for the roos altogether if you plan to keep all of them. That would include a separate run AND coop to sleep in. Then you wouldn't have to try to separate them every morning. You could allow one roo at a time to visit from time to time but as you've found out, the current set up isn't working with the chickens you have now.

 

[Laburnum-Roos]

That's what I was asking, the coop on the picture is supposed to be for 4 hens, would that be exceptable for them? So technically they will have there own run and coop, and will free range with the hens when we let them. Our main coop ; the one they all sleep on is a old brick toilet converted for them which is very high and they love it. See picture

 

[Laburnum-Roos]

This is a picture of the run and coop that I put the roosters in, taken from behind the gate, that you can see in the other pictures. The run area for the Roos is actually 14 x 6.4 feet. I have just measured it as I guessed it before.

 

[Laburnum-Roos]

the current set up isn't working with the chickens you have now.  

The current setup is working as feathers are growing back and a hell of a lot less mating going on. Before wasn't working, it's a little inconvenience separating them but they don't mind being picked up too much. But it's still a little time consuming first thing in the morning before work and before taking dogs out too

So from what I have heard if they sleep in the coop in their own run that will be fine. If they rejoin the hens at any time they will be fine, as they are at the top of pecking order. But what about coop imprinting, will I have too decide on a specific coop or can I put them with hens whenever I feel like it :/