Traumatized Roo

[leggomyegg0]

I just recently purchased a Brahma Roo and 3 hens. The man was cutting down on his flock and selling his submissive Roo and some of the chickens who were 1 1/2... I bought them home and the hens settled in with no issue but the Roo who has NO tail feathers( from being bullied I assume) is very cautious and has not crowed at all since arriving ... My guinea flock gets a aggressive with new additions, but I was told penning new fowl would give them time to adjust, they've been in the pen for 2 weeks and figured this would be enough time for everyone to settle in... Over the weekend the Brahmas have been going in and out with no issues, so I was thinking everything was working well... today I ran to the post office to pick up my new chicks... only to return and find NO ROO! lots of feathers... and riled up guineas so i suspected they were the issue! I found the Roo, he's hiding under my coop, mind you this space is 4 inches tall, and my roo is an adult Brahma Roo, he's not a little bird... i can hear him under there making this soft cooing... I rounded up the hens and ducks and put everyone away in hopes he'd realize everyone was were they should be and come out... but no luck so far... I'm worried he's hurt, though it's more likely he's terrified and don't want to scare him further... but if he is hurt, I need to see how bad... so how long should i wait before trying to pry him out of there?

On a side note, I hear guinea tastes like pheasant... if they keep it up, I'm gonna find out!

 

[jjthink]

Awwww....poor guy. So sad. Tough world, this world. Try putting enticing yummies where he can best get out of there. If you look under and think he might be stuck, that's another matter. He'll need rescue. 4 inches seems impossible - I am very anxious hoping he can get out of there. Keep us posted!!!!!!

JJ

 

[The Chickens' Maid]

I'd pry him out now. If he's badly hurt, you need to know as soon as possible. As for curing him of being timid, I've found that acting like a momma hen works pretty well. All our roos are sumbissive, and I use this approach with all of them. Sometimes I have to chase them and hold them until they stop squirming, but once they know that I'm not going to hurt them, they calm down. They start look to me for safety, and they become really friendly. It gives them a confidence boost to be held and pet (once they figure out that I'm acting like a momma hen and not like an alpha roo).

 

[leggomyegg0]

I'm pretty sure he can get out... he's moved away from me when I first realized he was under there and tried to catch him. he's now just a few inches away from the opening and is peeking out every few minutes... If I cluck at him softly he clucks and coos back... He's got a few pecked spots on his comb from what I can see, but his eyes seem bright and alert, so given that he's moving around easily under there, and he's not got those half closed stressed eyes, i think he's OK, but just scared... He's a big bird and the guineas though fast aren't nearly as big, given his timid personality, I think he's still just scared.

My dominate guinea was kacking near the pen, and he crawled further in. Poor guy! his name is "Arnold" spoken with a strong accent, LOL... he might be big, but he's definitely a baby

I can't decide if it's a good thing that he doesn't crow or not... I want him to be a happy bird, he's very gentle and kind, but I worry that he's gonna spend his whole life scared to leave his pen!

 

[jjthink]

So glad it looks good for him getting out. Hope he's come to you by now (darkness is your only enemy right now) and that he can calm down somewhere comfy. I'm sure you are a comfort to him. Will he be able to be kept separate from his tormentors?
JJ

 

[leggomyegg0]

I ended up having to pull him out, he was semi stuck, he could move around but the joist prevented him from getting out on his own... It was a tight squease! He's back to showing his girls the choice tidbits and being a sweetheart. i have 3 or 4 guineas that are gonna make a nice meal! That should work well, as they harass my coral male that I'd like to breed more of my lady guineas but he's a low guy... so Arnold should be happier and safer. And My hubby has been itching to see if they really do taste like pheasant!

 

[crtrlovr]

Poor AH-nold! I hope he gains some confidence and relaxes once the tormentors are dealt with. He sounds like a sweetie. A lady who raises lots of types of poultry / waterfowl keeps a large, long-handled dipnet (like fishermen use) for captures. Some people use a long pole with a crook at the end and catch them by the legs, but I think that's much more traumatic and much more likely to cause injury, including breaking a leg. I'm going to be getting a net very soon. I have some little bantam OEGB BB Reds who love to hop the fence and then run up & down the fence line, panicking and trying to figure out how to get back in.

I usually just "herd" them back in, but a net would come in handy in situations such as you described. I lost a beautiful blue cochin bantam hen who decided to crawl under the coop to go broody. She'd come out to get a drink and eat, but she was FAST! I never could catch the little goober, and one day she didn't come out...

 

[chickintexas]

I had a roo just like that. Once he came of age, no one picked on him anymore. He was never an aggressive bird and the girls pulled out his poor tail feathers more than once. They were free ranging at that time so he was able to get away for the most part if the girls decided to play tag.