Single Barred Rock Rooser - Looking for Ladies?

[cornflakes_mom]

I am the adoptive mother to a single Barred Rock Rooster named Cornflakes. I live in San Juan Bautista, CA - a city known for it's feral chicken population (which means OTHERS come and leave unwanted pets here and I heard he was left two years ago).

Long story short, Cornflakes - MY SWEET LIL DUDE, showed up about two months ago. He was originally roosting on my fence and then in the tree. He now has a coop. He's still shy, though he'll eat out of my hand, come to his name and follow me and my fiance around whenever we're out. He'll even come in the house, if we let him.

I'm new to chickens. I wasn't expecting him to show up but I'm in love with him. I've gone through a really rough period lately and he's what I look forward to seeing daily, so I care about making him happy.

Enter getting him some hens.

I've heard chickens are super social. But noticed he is SCARED to death of the other feral roosters around town. Would he be scared of a hen? Is there a smart/safe way to do this? I don't want a sad lonely rooster.

 

[Freisian]

I am the adoptive mother to a single Barred Rock Rooster named Cornflakes. I live in San Juan Bautista, CA - a city known for it's feral chicken population (which means OTHERS come and leave unwanted pets here and I heard he was left two years ago).

Long story short, Cornflakes - MY SWEET LIL DUDE, showed up about two months ago. He was originally roosting on my fence and then in the tree. He now has a coop. He's still shy, though he'll eat out of my hand, come to his name and follow me and my fiance around whenever we're out. He'll even come in the house, if we let him.

I'm new to chickens. I wasn't expecting him to show up but I'm in love with him. I've gone through a really rough period lately and he's what I look forward to seeing daily, so I care about making him happy.

Enter getting him some hens.

I've heard chickens are super social. But noticed he is SCARED to death of the other feral roosters around town. Would he be scared of a hen? Is there a smart/safe way to do this? I don't want a sad lonely rooster.

Definitely get him a lady or three to keep him complany, he is lucky to find you! Lovely story

 

[feedman77]

Check on Craigslist for laying hens. See if there any farmers market or animal swap meets around.

Since you don't know roo history I don't think there are bio security concerns you can control. So any hens you find would make him feel like a king.

If you have room get him at least 3 so he won't over mate just 1.

If you find some keep them separated by a cage or fence for a look don't touch session. Then let them together supervised. But most hens will accept a rooster without much squabbles.

Good luck

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!
He could make a good pet on his own, I'm glad you are enjoying him.
Caring for an animal can make life much more pleasant.

He's probably fine 'without a girl'...
...adding more birds could change his behavior significantly.
It's hard to know just what will happen with live animals,
and no matter how much we anthropomorphize them it's not always pleasant.
I call it the 'Romance meets Reality' syndrome.

First you need to have good space, safe from the weather and predators (and those other feral chickens), sized appropriately for the number of birds you plan to keep.
I'm guessing that the coop you have for him is one of those tiny prefab coops from the farm store? Do some research here about adequate space before getting more birds.
Here's good place to start:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need

 

[Ridgerunner]

Aart brings up a very good point, if you add hens to the mix he could easily change his behavior. He could go from an adorable pet to a terror, protecting his family. You just don't know with living animals.

I saw a red flag there, he is afraid of all the other feral roosters although he is two years old. At two, he is not immature and if he is a barred rock he is not smaller than most of them either. It means his spirit is very non-dominant. When hens look for a potential father for their children they want a strong rooster that will make a good father. If one is especially weak they may reject him. Since he is bigger and has urges he might get pretty physical with them. There are a lot of mays and mights in here but I've found that a super-submissive rooster often does not make a great flock master. There are many exceptions, it could work out great, but there is a risk. The personality of the individual hens plays a part too. You can't tell how they will react until they are actually in that position with that rooster.

Chickens are social animals, so are dogs. How many people do you know that keep a single dog at home alone while they are at work but really love it when they are home? Would you even ask this question if he were a dog? He probably is lonely during the day. Normally I'd suggest getting him some company but we are all in our own unique situation. In your specific case my thought is if it is not broke (and I don't think it is) why fix it.

If you decide to get some hens, I'll go along with the others. Three is probably enough, get mature hens, and give them plenty of room. It could easily work out. I don't think there is a wrong decision here, no matter which way you go there are some opotential risks and benefits.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Simple as this,he is probably lost several fights,just because he is non dominant with the other roosters doesn’t mean he isn’t willing to step up to the plate.Their feral animals.Giving him some hens will likely boost his confidence,escpecially if all that’s in that area are a bunch of wild roosters,probably reasoning of him being shy or scared of the others,why fight for a position when you literally can just leave and plus,there is nothing out there to fight for,guy probably knows he can get away and find better meals.
Roosters fight to become higher in order and have rights to mate and pretty much do whatever they feel like.He doesn’t need any of that,but that’s only because there is nothing to mate with,see what happens when you add a few hens,if he is getting picked on,I would just Seperate them.