I have an 1 year old Australorp who has been a wonderful flock protector, and a generally nice roo, but he does not fit my breeding program dreams. I have 2 very nice 6 month old Jersey giant roo's who I am hoping will be able to take over his duties. They are just starting to crow, but they dont do the food call for the hens, nor try to mate anyone, yet. Is there a right way to make a smooth transition from the Australorp to the JG? I was just going to re-home the Australorp and hope for the best, but I decided to see if there might be a better way. Would it cause mass confusion for the flock if their normal leader just vanished? Is there a way to be sure the younger roo's are ready for the job? How does everyone else replace an Alpha roo? Thanks all!
If it were me, i would go ahead and rehome your alpha when you get the opportunity. The younger ones are less likely to ever enter their instinctual alpha roo duties with the big guy around. Without him, it will be easier for one of your younger guys to rise to the top.
Is there any way that you could move the Australorp to seperate quarters. Give the Jersey giants time to mature and assess their temperments. If they are good flock roosters, then you can rehome the Australorp. Good roosters are worth their weight in gold, and bad roosters are a pain in the butt! Removing the Australorp from the flock of itself will not cause mass confusion. Raging hormones on the part of the two young roosters might.
I dont really have a place to isolate him that wouldnt make him (and me) miserable. My isolation pen is in the barn, and he is used to free ranging every day. I think my guilt over locking him up is the real issue though, My replacement roo's are getting bigger everyday, and I want them to take over the head roo job soon. I dont know when their hormons are gonna kick in- they dont chase the hens yet (the roos are 6 months old now) and they run from me and the kids like we are giant chicken eating monsters (which..we kinda are, ) but they have zero aggression right now. Our Aussie, on the otherhand, chases off any and all four legged intruders (our dogs and cats, and once, our mini horse!) but is submissive to all us humans. I think I will wait another week or 2 before deciding, I think Sourland made a very good point about good roo's being hard to find. I guess we have had a run of good luck with roo's though, all ours are very well behaved. But thats probably because I 'assign' every roo to a particular kid, so each of my children always run to hold 'their' roo first and carry them around forever till its time to go in the house. It would be very scary to have a Jersey Giant roo be aggressive- they are HUGE! Hope I dont have to deal with that if I get rid of the current head roo...
IF they are 6 months old - - they should have all the hormones they need. If they are in the same pen / area as your alpha rooster, they are not showing any interest because of the the alpha. You will have to remove the alpha before the other two young gentlemen step up. You will also see a change in their personality when the alpha roo is not around. It is like always having your mom around - - - everybody behaves . . . .BUT when mom isn't there, it is a whole new ball game. IF the alpha isn't going to work in what you want to do, then you need to go ahead and re-home him.
