marlaw
Songster
- Apr 24, 2019
- 55
- 199
- 106
Just when I think I'm getting the hang of being a chicken mama, something new happens that makes realize how inexperienced I am. Could use some advice on how to handle a new situation that has escalated.
We have a small flock of seramas. They are over wintering indoors in a heated garage in a really nice 2 level indoor coop/run my husband built for them. The flock started with 1 rooster (Randy) and 2 hens (Winnie and Speckles). We got them in October and they were all born in April or May this year.
Randy was fantastic with both the girls and he turned out to be an exceptional roosters. We let Specky go broody and while she was on busy sitting on her eggs, we unexpectedly lost Winnie (impacted crop). This left Randy pretty much by himself for a couple of weeks while Specky was finishing up on her eggs--but he handled it really well. We spent a lot of time with him and kept him busy with lots of activities. After we lost Winnie, we picked up 4 young serama pullets--maybe 7-8 months old--thinking we definitely needed a better hen to roo ratio for a peaceful flock. Our intention was to separate Randy from Specky/baby for a while and put him in with the new girls.
That plan changed when Specky hatched out a single chick. Randy was all about being a dad and had no interest in being separated from them. The afternoon we tried to separate him from them he cried all afternoon and it broke our hearts--we couldn't go through with it and let the three of them be together. The baby was born the day after Thanksgiving and he has been inseparable from Specky and baby for the last month. He's been kind of aggressive and amorous with Specky in the morning as expected--but she will not submit to him anymore. Not in the morning or at any point throughout the day.
We think because she no longer will submit that he has become increasingly aggressive towards her....to the point he is literally swinging her around by her neck and/or comb just to be mean. She and the baby will literally jump in my arms in the morning for safety against his antics. He's not even trying to mount her--he's just straight up attacking her. He hasn't shown any aggression toward the chick in this way but we feel like it's only a matter of time. So Randy got thrown in chicken jail tonight after a particularly vicious attack against Specky. We're not too eager to introduce him to the other girls or back to Specky/baby until he can prove himself again. It's pretty stressful because he is literally throwing himself against the wall in the jail coop.
As mad as I am at him for hurting Specky, I know it's probably our fault for allowing the flock dynamic to get so wonky after Winnie died. Any advice on how to get our sweet Randy back would be much appreciated!
We have a small flock of seramas. They are over wintering indoors in a heated garage in a really nice 2 level indoor coop/run my husband built for them. The flock started with 1 rooster (Randy) and 2 hens (Winnie and Speckles). We got them in October and they were all born in April or May this year.
Randy was fantastic with both the girls and he turned out to be an exceptional roosters. We let Specky go broody and while she was on busy sitting on her eggs, we unexpectedly lost Winnie (impacted crop). This left Randy pretty much by himself for a couple of weeks while Specky was finishing up on her eggs--but he handled it really well. We spent a lot of time with him and kept him busy with lots of activities. After we lost Winnie, we picked up 4 young serama pullets--maybe 7-8 months old--thinking we definitely needed a better hen to roo ratio for a peaceful flock. Our intention was to separate Randy from Specky/baby for a while and put him in with the new girls.
That plan changed when Specky hatched out a single chick. Randy was all about being a dad and had no interest in being separated from them. The afternoon we tried to separate him from them he cried all afternoon and it broke our hearts--we couldn't go through with it and let the three of them be together. The baby was born the day after Thanksgiving and he has been inseparable from Specky and baby for the last month. He's been kind of aggressive and amorous with Specky in the morning as expected--but she will not submit to him anymore. Not in the morning or at any point throughout the day.
We think because she no longer will submit that he has become increasingly aggressive towards her....to the point he is literally swinging her around by her neck and/or comb just to be mean. She and the baby will literally jump in my arms in the morning for safety against his antics. He's not even trying to mount her--he's just straight up attacking her. He hasn't shown any aggression toward the chick in this way but we feel like it's only a matter of time. So Randy got thrown in chicken jail tonight after a particularly vicious attack against Specky. We're not too eager to introduce him to the other girls or back to Specky/baby until he can prove himself again. It's pretty stressful because he is literally throwing himself against the wall in the jail coop.
As mad as I am at him for hurting Specky, I know it's probably our fault for allowing the flock dynamic to get so wonky after Winnie died. Any advice on how to get our sweet Randy back would be much appreciated!
