Three roos and two flocks challenge

[Kelly Holt]

I have two separate flocks and two Silver Laced Wyandotte roos, one for each flock. We have them since we feel the predation is pretty bad here with hawks, fox, and the like. We also like the order the roos provide with the girls. We let each flock out to free-range every other day so everyone gets a turn to free-range.

We purchased several meat birds this summer and they included a free bird that was what seemed to be a Black Australorp (Luther). It was too small to tell the sex of when the meat birds were ready, but since we were pretty sure it was a hen, we put it in to integrate with the smaller flock (7 hens & 1 roo). We named it Luna because "she" went berserk any time we tried to catch her. Within 2 weeks, we realized Luna was a LUTHER. I thought my roo would kill it immediately if it was a male, and he seemed to be doing the normal pecking order ritual, but never drew blood. It took almost 4 months for the poor little guy to integrate and I was hopeful. Luther is now of mating age/size and Norton kept a pretty tight reign any mating Luther would try. But, being a roo, he would sneak whenever he could, but the girls hate him, squawking like they are being attacked whenever he tries to mate. I thought he was just at the bottom of the pecking order and things were going OK.

I decided to get 6 Cochin hens to start a third flock and have Luther be the roo for those girls. I was going to order them tomorrow, in fact.

This afternoon my husband came back with a banged-up Silver Laced Wyandotte roo (Norton). Luther had gotten the better of him. This surprised me since the Wyandotte (Norton) is very protective of the girls and is unafraid to challenge me or my husband. (We put him in the submission hold every 3 weeks or month as he needs reminding and he avoids us but keeps a careful eye on us.)

Luther has never been aggressive toward us and simply watches us from a distance.

I have very little hope of rehoming a roo. Simply because I don't know anyone personally, but I've also never tried. I thought things were going OK, but was I delusional? The snow has had everyone staying in their covered run and they aren't willing to go out into the yard. I'm sure everyone is on each others nerves.

One option, we do have a small chicken tractor that would be OK to keep Luther in, but I don't know if straw would be enough to keep him warm. He would be sheltered under a roof and three sides. We could cover it with a tarp on the coldest nights to keep the wind off of him. Our temps have been regularly getting down in the 20's with occasional single digits for 2-3 nights. He would be alone for 7 months waiting for the new Cochin flock to be big enough to join him in a new coop/run. Would it be cruel to do this?

I've put salves and no-peck on Norton and placed him in the coop, hoping he gets the idea to stay in there and heal.
Should I get rid of Norton since he challenges us and hope Luther wins the girl's over? I don't think we'd butcher Norton since he is nearly 2 and wouldn't taste very good.

 

[ElizaMay]

Didn't you have a second flock with an SLW roo? What about trying Luthor in with that bird to see if he settles?
Alternately, where were you planning to keep the 3rd flock of cochins that are on order?
Or, do you run them all in together and the roos have thus far kept their hens to themselves?

A tractor should be okay, put it on the leeside of another building and staple on some tarp or feedbags on the 4th open side for now. But he'll need some time to range too, perhaps when all the other birds are cooped.
Realize that Luthor now has horomones whipping him into a frenzy as a 'teenager', so he will have lost respect and fear of Norton from sheer desperation, especially if Norton is mature and not overly bird-aggressive.

 

[Kelly Holt]

Didn't you have a second flock with an SLW roo? What about trying Luthor in with that bird to see if he settles?
Alternately, where were you planning to keep the 3rd flock of cochins that are on order?
Or, do you run them all in together and the roos have thus far kept their hens to themselves?

A tractor should be okay, put it on the leeside of another building and staple on some tarp or feedbags on the 4th open side for now. But he'll need some time to range too, perhaps when all the other birds are cooped.
Realize that Luthor now has horomones whipping him into a frenzy as a 'teenager', so he will have lost respect and fear of Norton from sheer desperation, especially if Norton is mature and not overly bird-aggressive.

Yes, I do have a second flock (separate) with an SLW roo. I thought about putting Luther in, but there's the possibility I'd then have TWO SLW cowering in the corner and another set of girls screeching. That or my SLW would trounce Luther into the ground.

I planned on creating a 3rd coop/run for the Cochins in my garden area. I have plenty of space for 3 separate coops.

I have never allowed the 2 groups to free-range together because I feared there would be too much fighting and wouldn't be able to get everyone back into their respective coops.

 

[ElizaMay]

It could be a totally different dynamic with the other SLW roo and his hens. If you do try it, do it when you can keep a watch out and step in to remove Luthor if needed.
If he needs to be separate, sucks to be him til the cochins are POL/laying, or he ages a couple-three/four more months and calms down and you might try integrating again. Your SLWs may be more willing to stand up to him when days are longer and their own horomones follow seasonal surge.

 

[Kelly Holt]

Well, I had to go ahead and put Luther in the chicken tractor 3'x6'. He was easy to catch since he was preoccupied with trying to rip Norton's head off.

It's evening so I'll probably have Luther spend the night in the tractor and try to put him in the other coop tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I guess it's life in the tractor. I don't see us being able to let Luther out to walk around. He still isn't trained to come when called and there's no way to catch him.

 

[ElizaMay]

Well, I had to go ahead and put Luther in the chicken tractor 3'x6'. He was easy to catch since he was preoccupied with trying to rip Norton's head off.

It's evening so I'll probably have Luther spend the night in the tractor and try to put him in the other coop tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I guess it's life in the tractor. I don't see us being able to let Luther out to walk around. He still isn't trained to come when called and there's no way to catch him.

Best of luck. We can always hope that your other roo pins Luthor's ears back.