Upset & Confused. (Long Post)

[kuntrygirl]

I hope that I'm posting in the right section. Here is my story. Over the course of the last few months, something had been killing my hens, which in turn left too many roosters, so I had to get rid of some roosters. I was down to 1 standard rooster and 3 banty roosters but they have their own little section that they live in and they don't bother anyone. Well anyway, my neighbor came over on last Thursday and delivered 3 hens and a rooster. Well, the catch was that the rooster was a package deal. This rooster was BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! OH MY!!! And he was tame. So, I reluctantly said yes. Well, my #1 rooster (Russell), immediately came running when he “SMELLED” the other rooster. He was upset and wanted to fight. The other rooster was in a dog kennel and I didn’t let him out. Well for 2 days, I didn’t let the rooster out. This past weekend, I finally let the rooster out because I knew that they would have to get to know one another and establish the pecking order. Well, I let him out and here comes Russell running over and ready to fight. I hate when roosters fight. When they started fighting, I called it quits. That was enough. So, I put the rooster back in the dog kennel. Well, the next day, I did the same thing. This time, the new rooster spurred my rooster and I saw blood coming from Russell my rooster. I immediately stopped it but it was too late. I saw my rooster shake his head and heard a gurgling sound. The new rooster must have spurred my rooster in the throat. Within 60 seconds, my rooster was DEAD!!!!!!!! I FELT SO BAD!!!!!!!!! This was my favorite rooster. I felt terrible. If I wouldn’t have accepted the new rooster and wouldn’t have let the rooster out, my rooster would STILL BE ALIVE!!!!!!!! I cried like a baby. I feel so so so bad. Why did I do that?

On the other side of that story, I believe that things happen for a reason. My rooster was kinda bad. He had spurred me a good 5 times over the year and I didn’t like that. I would always have to watch my back when I went to feed. I really didn’t like the idea having to watch my back for an animal that I own. Trust is important to me and I really didn’t trust him. I’m sure in the future, my rooster would have hurt someone with his spurs. Oh by the way, the new rooster’s spurs looked like 2 inch blades coming from his feet. I HAVE NEVER saw spurs that long and sharp. I have cut them since the massacre. I should have cut his spurs before letting him out but I didn't. I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner. I FELL SO SO SO BAD!!!!!!! I’m still crying about my rooster. On the flip side, the day my rooster died, 7 of his babies were hatched.

So my question is, how do you ease a new rooster into your flock that already has a rooster?

To be honest, I really don't want any roosters. I think all I want to do is concentrate on egg production and selling eggs. Is there anyone out there who doesn't have a rooster? I know that if I want baby chicks, I need a rooster but I just don't like the way that chickens breed. It's too violent for me. Sounds crazy huh? Yea, I know. I don't like to see that. My flock is up to 50 standard hens, 3 banty hens, 3 banty roosters and the "new rooster" (which is standard). I don't want the bantys to breed with the standard hens, so I have them separated.

If someone can tell me how to introduce a new rooster to a flock that already has a rooster, I would greatly appreciate it. For those of you who do not have a rooster, please let me know how that is working for you. I'm sure you have peace and quiet.

Thanks for listening.

Sad In South Louisiana

 

[Year of the Rooster]

What should have been done is have two pens side by side with the rooster in his own pen. There should be wire between them so that they can see each other, but not reach each other.

I'm sorry to hear about your rooster.

 

[sparkles2307]

Oh I'm so sorry! What a sad experience! I hope that your integration goes well with the new guy and your existing flock.

 

[speckledhen]

First of all, you should have quarantined the new birds for a month before allowing them to have contact with your birds because of the disease risk, but it's too late now, I guess.

You can rarely add a new rooster into an established flock tith its own rooster without major bloodshed. I personally wouldn't even try it. Sorry your rooster was killled, but sounds like he was too aggressive with people anyway.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

I have never been able to have two roos together unless they were raised together from babies and even then sometimes it goes bad and they have to be separated. Sorry about your rooster.

 

[kinnip]

It sounds like you're taking this pretty hard. What's done is done. You can't take it back, but you can learn from it. It's not necessarily too late to quarantine. Amount of exposure is a factor in determining the likelihood of infection. If they haven't been running with your flock for long, I'd separate the rooster and hens entirely for the time being. When you feel satisfied that they're healthy, introduce them with a partition. When I put my young birds in the yard, I partition the coop with netting, so they can roost with the old meanies. After they've roosted together for a few nights to a week, depending on behaviour, I remove the partition.
Now stop feeling bad!

 

[scbatz33]

my grown boys are all seperate. The even see each other and they go bonkers. I have fencing and tarps between the orpingtons.

My cockerels will be split from my pullets very soon. I have turkens and orps that were raised together but now that they are close to 4 months old they are starting to scuffle over the girls. Especially the turken girl (she's NOT that attractive IMO, but to the boys she's hot stuff!)

I know folk on here do have roos together, but I think it's just an accident waiting to happen. Sorry you had to have this happen.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Well, you've had your share of troubles. I'm sorry about all that's happened. Anyone that lives long enough will eventually have one of those, "What was I thinking???" moments.

Many people don't have roosters and it works out fine. I don't have one right now. It just depends on the situation.

Roosters can be aggressive to people or harsh with their hens. Hens often avoid a bad rooster and are happier when he's gone.

Roosters can also be good with people. They can also be very good to their hens. A good rooster will look out for the hens, call them over for tidbits of food and protect them. He also does a little mating dance, to let the hen know he is interested, first. Some breeders select for the ability to do the mating dance. Hens often adore a nice rooster.

It sounds like you might be happier with either a nicer rooster or no rooster. In general, I wouldn't try to have more than one rooster in a small flock. Sometimes a bachelor pen with no hens works, too, for extra roosters. I did that once, when I had a lot of extra cockerals. They were raised together, though.