VERY submissive roo

[mommissan]

Hmmm. True, he is only 7-8 months old. He still peeps like a chick from time to time. He is nearly twice the size of the EE that's antagonizing him. Maybe he should have a private coop until he comes of age?

 

[TroutsChicks]

sounds like a plan, my boy is at least 3 years old. So He's just gonna have to wait until jack dies or some one wants him. I just keep him away from jack as much as possible and rub his wattles!

 

[SkyWarrior]

Quote:
I have 18 pullets, cockerels, older hens, and a roo all together. I introduced four groups together with a young submissive roo and there is no bullying.

They all get along. Yes, even the cockerels and roo. The way you get them to accept each other is to have groups that get along join together. Yes, there will be some "toughing it out," but not to the point where anyone gets injured.

Space is important here. I have a bit more than 4 sq ft per bird, which I think is the bare minimum (not counting roosts). if you have 9 birds, you need a minimum of 36 sq ft., even if that's run.

Added: two of the cockerels are 6 months and one of the cockerels is 5 months. So, they're not that young and two are crowing.

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
I have 18 pullets, cockerels, older hens, and a roo all together. I introduced four groups together with a young submissive roo and there is no bullying.

They all get along. Yes, even the cockerels and roo. The way you get them to accept each other is to have groups that get along join together. Yes, there will be some "toughing it out," but not to the point where anyone gets injured.

Space is important here. I have a bit more than 4 sq ft per bird, which I think is the bare minimum (not counting roosts). if you have 9 birds, you need a minimum of 36 sq ft., even if that's run.

Added: two of the cockerels are 6 months and one of the cockerels is 5 months. So, they're not that young and two are crowing.

You can bet they all recognize the authority of the older cock.

At one time I raised nearly a hundred youngsters each year. My plan was to put all of them in a large grow out pen as soon as mamma weened them. To keep the peace, a mature cock was placed in the pen with them. The idea was if anyone was gonna kick butt, it would be the cock. Even though the ages were staggered, it worked like a charm. These were game chickens and they start getting very testy early in life. I could keep most of them in that pen with the cock policing them, until they were 8 months old. Very few ever challenged the cock.......Pop

 

[mommissan]

Well, I will have to wait for spring for a bigger coop, but in the meantime, the run is 336 sq. ft, accessible from 8 am to 8 pm. I knew the 4 sq ft/ bird rule before we went to the farm and STILL came home with too many. Why do they have to be so darn cute?!?!?

Now, the story takes a bit of a twist. Now that I have him under close observation, he has all the classic signs of botulism poisoning. The girls were taking advantage of him while he was down. His stools are looking better, and he has improved. It's been 72 hours since he first went down, and now he's standing, walking and eating/drinking normally. His tail does hang to the right a little and he still staggers from time to time. Are we out of the dark yet? The bale of straw I've been using is the suspect. It seemed a little "dusty" in the middle. No more straw/hay for them! The coop will be getting a full cleaning, stripped down and fresh pine shavings on the way. As for the run, well, that stuff is frozen in layers now. That will have to be dealt with when it thaws.

Thanks for all the advice. Botulism aside, he still is bullied badly in that flock. This has always happened and becoming ill just exacerbated the situation. I'm crossing my fingers.

 

[galanie]

Oh for ... For SURE keep that guy in till you know for sure he's healthy. They can and will pick on someone that is down. I guess that's their way of keeping the rest of the flock healthy or something.

 

[mommissan]

*Update*

My boy is back out with the girls after a week of living in our basement. Once he started to improve, he spent days outside in a cage in the run with the flock. I wanted the girls to still see him without hurting him. He seemed to move around more and eat better out there. At night I had to bring him in because the girls would pound him in the coop! On Friday, I put him in the cage with an "open door" policy. They all were allowed to mingle freely; he chose to stay in the cage and rest. On Saturday, I free-ranged them and plopped him out there in the yard with them. He still stumbled but managed to mingle with everyone except my white hen. She attacked him, ALOT! He'd try to fight back but she would knock him over and peck at him. So, I broke it up, and stood him back up every time. By mid afternoon, I got tired of refereeing, so I locked up the instigator, my white hen, instead of him. Well, that did the trick. She forgot about picking on him and even missed out on treats. They all went to bed together and this morning, he was 99% and no one is arguing anymore. This did change the dynamics of the flock though. He actually defends himself now. I could say that he got sick of the beatings and had to fight back. My white hen is at the bottom of the pecking order (where she was before). The flock just leaves him alone. Best of all, I saw my boy eyeing up a few of the girls to mount them. Guess he's feeling much better!

Regarding having him in the basement for a week; I'm glad he's out- it stunk! But, I miss him. He was such a cuddle-bug when I was babying him.

 

[mommissan]

BTW: can anyone tell me what breeds went into his mix? I thought .... buff rock with a hint of cochin? His legs are lightly feathered.

 

[SkyWarrior]

Quote:
He looks Buff Orp to me. Probably with some cochin, if he has feathered legs.

 

[Me & Jack]

I had a Silkie cock that never developed his aggressive, dominant side. He continued to be hen-pecked and would sit alone in corners of the pen. He also would not breed, nor even did it seem that he had any "interest" in the girls that way. It got to the point that the other chickens wouldn't even come near him unless they were planning to clunk him on the head with a beak.

Eventually I discovered he made a great "brooder buddy" and I started putting him in my grow-out pen with the older chicks. He was always gentle and acted a little like a mother hen. It seemed to give him confidence, and if I were going to ascribe human emotions to a chicken I would definitely have to say that he seemed happiest, brightest, and most vigorous when he lived with his chick friends instead of the other adult chickens.