Tips for rooster coop during rehoming?

[UrbanBarnCat]

Hi everyone! So my big beautiful “hen” turned out to be a BOY.
I’m looking for a new flock for him currently but have him separated from my girls since he is a big standard size rooster and all my other chickens are bantam.

I know keeping him alone isn’t ideal and I work from home and interact with him multiple times daily but I’m about to work on building a makeshift run for him while I rehome him. Any tips for keeping him comfy and entertained are appreciated!!

I have him in a small coop right now and let him in the girls run for now during the evening after I put them to bed but I’m thinking about enclosing a 10x10 tent with poultry wire for him during the day but how else can I keep him entertained and not lonely? I do want to buy him a mirror for his run but is there anything else y’all would recommend to keep him occupied while he finds his new home?

I have 2 silkies that I’m waiting to see the sex for but the chicken he was closest with everyone is saying is a hen in my other thread so I don’t really want to move them over yet if they are a pullet just to avoid the mating side of it bc he’s such a big boy


I would love to keep him with the chickens he grew up with but I could tell he was just becoming too much for my 5 bantam girls so I decided to separate him.

Also, just throwing this out there if you are in the central Texas area and need a rooster let me know

But my goal is to keep my sweet boy happy and healthy until I find his perfect home so any input is appreciated!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Can you pen him next to them or make a pen inside your existing run? He will be fine as long as he can see them.

 

[UrbanBarnCat]

Can you pen him next to them or make a pen inside your existing run? He will be fine as long as he can see them.

I thought they were supposed not to see them? I guess my goal was to avoid the aggression that comes with wanting to protect a flock and also not make him want to mount my girls bc he is so big. I really thought he was a pullet when I got him with my black silkie and they are super close but I was thinking “she” was going to be like a big momma hen and not a big rooster boy lol

So I moved him father away, into a grass patch farther back in my yard because I thought he’d like foraging in it, but this does track because I did keep him separate in his coop but like 2 feet away from the run for a week and I felt like there was no anxiety, minimal crowing and just better vibes

Im going to consider moving him back tonight and just making his run next to theirs but no access to actual mount them. Im just so scared he’s going to hurt like my Mille Fleur duccle girl because she’s actually tiny and my silkies and he hasn’t tried yet but it just felt like he hit puberty overnight lol

 

[WildNectarine]

Give him a plush chicken as a mate. I do it with all my coturnix quail roosters, it works. They don’t crow, and the ladies are never subjected to their cruelty. Win win.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I thought they were supposed not to see them? I guess my goal was to avoid the aggression that comes with wanting to protect a flock and also not make him want to mount my girls bc he is so big. I really thought he was a pullet when I got him with my black silkie and they are super close but I was thinking “she” was going to be like a big momma hen and not a big rooster boy lol

So I moved him father away, into a grass patch farther back in my yard because I thought he’d like foraging in it, but this does track because I did keep him separate in his coop but like 2 feet away from the run for a week and I felt like there was no anxiety, minimal crowing and just better vibes

Im going to consider moving him back tonight and just making his run next to theirs but no access to actual mount them. Im just so scared he’s going to hurt like my Mille Fleur duccle girl because she’s actually tiny and my silkies and he hasn’t tried yet but it just felt like he hit puberty overnight lol

I've always penned roosters where they can still interact through the fence. They do okay, and it keeps them content.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've always penned roosters where they can still interact through the fence. They do okay, and it keeps them content.

By interact I mean they can still see the other birds, but can't actually get to them. A lot of chicken interaction is through body language and vocalizations, so being able to see and talk to the hens is enough.

 

[UrbanBarnCat]

By interact I mean they can still see the other birds, but can't actually get to them. A lot of chicken interaction is through body language and vocalizations, so being able to see and talk to the hens is enough.

Okay this makes me feel better I can definitely do this! I feel so bad moving him now! He’s probably been freaking out about his girls all day

 

[WildNectarine]

Is it okay if his mate is a tiny bantam silkie though? This is truly who he wants to be with but the size difference scares me

My opinion? No. He could easily hurt her, and I’d never keep roosters with hens unless I’m breeding, and then I’d take them away right after. But, I’m a quail person, and many disagree with me, because yes, some roosters can be nice, but I don’t think taking chances, and leaving poor hens at the mercy of a rooster is right, ever. Taking him somewhere where he can’t see or hear the hens, and giving him a plush chicken will most likely keep him happy, and you’ll notice if he’s not, he’ll be pacing and crowing and the like, but like I said, I use it for quail roosters no problem.

 

[UrbanBarnCat]

My opinion? No. He could easily hurt her, and I’d never keep roosters with hens unless I’m breeding, and then I’d take them away right after. But, I’m a quail person, and many disagree with me, because yes, some roosters can be nice, but I don’t think taking chances, and leaving poor hens at the mercy of a rooster is right, ever. Taking him somewhere where he can’t see or hear the hens, and giving him a plush chicken will most likely keep him happy, and you’ll notice if he’s not, he’ll be pacing and crowing and the like, but like I said, I use it for quail roosters no problem.

Sorry idk why when I read plush chicken I thought you meant like just a really fat happy hen it just made me think of my silkie but I understand you mean like plush stuffed chicken!!
Thank you gonna look for one this weekend!!

 

[WildNectarine]

Sorry idk why when I read plush chicken I thought you meant like just a really fat happy hen it just made me think of my silkie but I understand you mean like plush stuffed chicken!!
Thank you gonna look for one this weekend!!

No problem! Let me know how it goes, curious to see if it works just as well in chickens. I’d buy at least four, change them out and wash them daily to avoid infections for the rooster. That’s what I do, crazy, but it works!