Unexpected rooster--happy in chicken tractor?

[favoritebird]

I am a new chicken mother hen. I have just discovered that one of my hens is actually a rooster. Apparently, the hatchery made a mistake, which I understand can happen. I have two Buff Orpingtons, one Black Australorps, and the rooster is an Aricauna/Americauna/Easter Egger. I am trying to decide whether or not to keep the rooster. I am raising the chickens for eggs and did not want a rooster for a couple of reasons (no eggs, crowing, etc.).

I am wondering if my rooster would even be content in the chicken tractor. It is 4 ft. wide by 10 ft. long with a coop above the run. So far, everyone is getting along, but will the rooster eventually need more space?

My chickens are 11 weeks old. Is there an ideal age to separate the rooster from the hens? Will there be trauma since they have been raised together?

Thank you for any advice you can give me!

 

[FireTigeris]

Quote:
He'll be fine in a tractor as long as its big enough for everyone, roosters don't need 'more' space then hens.

Separate the rooster for what reason? His job is to warn about predictors and do his part in creating chicks. When you find him a new home move him there, otherwise when you start getting eggs they will simply be fertile.

Remember chickens are flock creatures, having one by itself, hen or rooster is cruel (in my opinion, unless medically require for a short time)

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I'm not sure about the chicken tractor thing. I've never used one, my roo lives with his hens. I'm sure someone will be around to chime in on that.
I was curious about the above statement though. Why do you think you won't have eggs? I got 8 eggs from my 13 girls yesterday, with my rooster standing guard right outside the coop while they laid.
I eat fertile eggs every day of my life. I also sell my excess eggs. Some of my egg customers prefer fertile over non-fertile because of an old wives tale about fertile being better for you. In reality, there is no difference between fertile and non-fertile eggs - not in taste or nutritional value. If you want to see the difference you have to look closely and know what you are looking for.
As for the crowing, that's a whole 'nother story. I'm used to it and enjoy the sound, when I even notice it.

 

[FireTigeris]

Quote:
I'm not sure about the chicken tractor thing. I've never used one, my roo lives with his hens. I'm sure someone will be around to chime in on that.
I was curious about the above statement though. Why do you think you won't have eggs? I got 8 eggs from my 13 girls yesterday, with my rooster standing guard right outside the coop while they laid.
I eat fertile eggs every day of my life. I also sell my excess eggs. Some of my egg customers prefer fertile over non-fertile because of an old wives tale about fertile being better for you. In reality, there is no difference between fertile and non-fertile eggs - not in taste or nutritional value. If you want to see the difference you have to look closely and know what you are looking for.
As for the crowing, that's a whole 'nother story. I'm used to it and enjoy the sound, when I even notice it.

Roosters are not egg producers, this is what I thought it meant... with a perfect fort knox coop a rooster in unnecessary especially if noise or number of animals is an issue. (unless you want chicks.

)

 

[cobrien]

Your question was would the rooster be happy in the tractor. I am no expert by my answer is probably. I have also kept hens in a tracker with 10 square feet per bird, and most did fine with it. Some chickens do not tolerate confinement well but think you've chosen breeds that should do fine with that amount of space. As a kid growing up in the country, I did not notice the roosters needing more space than the hens, and others in this thread have confirmed that. I'm in the city now, so no roosters.

You didn't ask if the hens would be happy or if you would be happy with a rooster

. 1 rooster with 3 hens in a tight space might be too few hens to keep the rooster occupied. He might service the ladies so much that they lose feathers on their backs, for example, and they won't be able to easily escape his advances. I've read that 1 rooster to 10 hens is ideal to prevent this. Hopefully others will chime in on this as I have limited rooster experience. As for YOU being happy, if you think you won't like the crowing, I fear that you probably won't. Personally I like it, but not too close to my house and definitely not near the neighbors. Roosters can be agressive, but not always and some are really sweet, and they are also beautiful, it's fun to watch their antics, and they do protect the girls and keep order among them, so there can be less hen to hen fighting.

I have also ended up with a surprise rooster with my city flock, and had to re-home him. It was NOT easy to find a home that wouldn't eat him. I was extremely lucky to find him a nice new home. If you don't mind him being eaten, it would be easy to find someone to take him.

Tough situation ...I hope you find a good solution that works for you!
Colleen

 

[gryeyes]

...and an EE rooster, bet he'll be HANDSOME!!!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I'm not sure about the chicken tractor thing. I've never used one, my roo lives with his hens. I'm sure someone will be around to chime in on that.
I was curious about the above statement though. Why do you think you won't have eggs? I got 8 eggs from my 13 girls yesterday, with my rooster standing guard right outside the coop while they laid.
I eat fertile eggs every day of my life. I also sell my excess eggs. Some of my egg customers prefer fertile over non-fertile because of an old wives tale about fertile being better for you. In reality, there is no difference between fertile and non-fertile eggs - not in taste or nutritional value. If you want to see the difference you have to look closely and know what you are looking for.
As for the crowing, that's a whole 'nother story. I'm used to it and enjoy the sound, when I even notice it.

Roosters are not egg producers, this is what I thought it meant... with a perfect fort knox coop a rooster in unnecessary especially if noise or number of animals is an issue. (unless you want chicks.

)

Well see you asked basically the same question as I did - "Separate the rooster for what reason? His job is to warn about predictors and do his part in creating chicks. When you find him a new home move him there, otherwise when you start getting eggs they will simply be fertile." We must have been posting at the same time.
Coops built like Fort Knox are one thing, but my birds free range (during the day) and there's no way I would if I didn't have a roo. There's alot of old wives tales about fertile eggs. I felt it necessary to address that.

 

[favoritebird]

Thank you all for your incite and thoughts. When I asked about separating the rooster from the hens, I meant giving him to someone that would want a rooster (not keeping him alone--I know about the flocking nature of chickens).
I definitely don't want to give him to someone that wants to eat him since I have invested so much time and energy in him. And I like him

And yes, since roosters don't lay eggs, and I have limited space, I wanted to have four hens vs. three hens and a rooster.

Colleen, I wondered about the ration of roosters to hens and the fact that they are in a chicken tractor and won't be able to escape his advances. Thanks for your info. I don't think that I would mind the crowing, but I do have close neighbors and really do not want to create any bad feelings at all about my chickens. I have already enjoyed his antics and I will miss that if I give him away!

greyes, he is really pretty!

Still not sure what I'm going to do...

 

[kipoley]

Oh. I bet you'll want more than that

How about bigger coop and three more EE hens. You just HAVE to have blue eggs

~K