Silkie thread!

Thanks for the thoughts Sylvester, that's exactly what I was thinking too. Now have to talk to the wife to figure out the next step? Personally with agressvie hens, I think that I should rehome all 4 of the silkies. My layers beat the crap out of my Newhampshire rooster until he was older and then he ruled the coop. He ended up a pressure cooker fooder after continually trying to attack everything in sight including the UPS driver. I attribute some of his behavoir to how the hens treated him.

It sounds like a safe solution for the Silkies to be re-homed or else separated from your layer flock. Either way you only need one Silkie roo if you were to keep the Silkies. 3 roos on top of only 1 Silkie hen is not good for the hen - not to mention you don't want brothers breeding to sisters in the same hatch to avoid health issues.

As for cockerels - hens and pullets will gang up on a single cockerel which is why most breeders keep their cockerels separated from females until the cockerels reach adulthood. My friend had 2 five-month EE cockerels that were getting pecked and chased by the hens until she had to separate them. Once the cockerels are grown to adulthood they gain more confidence.

Your NHR roo was developed from the RIR breed and those males will be on the assertive side whether they were chased by hens during their youth or not
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These dual purpose breed roos make excellent flock defenders however in large free-range fields. Starting in Spring season the roos naturally begin getting combative when the hens start laying again.
 
Thanks for the thoughts Sylvester, that's exactly what I was thinking too. Now have to talk to the wife to figure out the next step? Personally with agressvie hens, I think that I should rehome all 4 of the silkies. My layers beat the crap out of my Newhampshire rooster until he was older and then he ruled the coop. He ended up a pressure cooker fooder after continually trying to attack everything in sight including the UPS driver. I attribute some of his behavoir to how the hens treated him.
Chickens establish a "pecking order." So they will bully new chickens for a while but they do except them eventually, I don't think you should get rid of all 4 of your silkies because of some bullying. And some roosters are more aggressive then others, I have 3 silkie roosters and they are just as sweet as the hens. I would only keep 1 roo in your situation. 3 roos for 1 hen is WAY too much! But I hope you keep your silkie hen! Good luck!
 

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