If you want to introduce new chickens, including roosters, to your already established flock, follow these steps for an easy transition period. First, be sure to introduce the new chickens to the yard over a period of time, where they can see and hear one another but are protected by a fence.
The two different ages will establish a new pecking order and the transition will go more smoothly. The second tip is to introduce the new cockerel s before they begin to crow and their wattles are red. I give my roosters a few chances before deciding to find them a new home or purpose.
However, sometimes they are too aggressive towards me or the chickens in my flock. Getting chased or attacked by a rooster is not one of my favorite activities, so in those cases they must leave the farm. There are some breeds of roosters that are calmer than others, but just like any other animal they all have their own personalities and those calmer breeds can still become aggressive.
Following these few suggestions will hopefully ease any rooster aggression issues and help transition new roosters into your flock.
If you are thinking about adding a rooster to your flock be sure to take a look at our blog on the many great reasons for owning a rooster.
We would also love to hear any tips and tricks you have for keeping multiple roosters in a flock, so please comment below! The Sussex chicken breed is a friendly, calm, and dual-purpose breed that is a beautiful choice for any backyard flock. Blue, green, brown, white: read here to learn more on the rainbow of egg color. Roosters and hens both can have spurs, small nail-like growths on the shank.
Read on how and why you may need to trim spurs in chickens. We have 15 pullets and 7 cockerels that are about 3 months old. We want to keep one for near future chicks but are wondering if we should keep 2 just in case something happens to the flock like a predator attack one rooster hopefully survives.
But worry 2 roosters would be too much for 15 hens. Raising your own chicks can be much more rewarding than buying them at the store especially if the hen does it. A rooster in his prime should be kept with hens. However if you put him in a flock of 20 or more hens he will still consider them all to be his and be possessive about them.
For the exact hen to rooster ratio refer to our table here. However the exact answer will depend on your breed of rooster and the relationship of other roosters to him. A good rooster will care for his hens by finding tidbits, standing guard and sounding the predator alarm.
If you are able to maintain a good rooster for a couple of years your flock will benefit from the continuity of leadership and by extension so will you. Understanding his role in the care of your flock will help you to get along well enough with him. Transporting your chickens can be an anxiety ridden event for you and your birds. However it does not have to be that way.
Today we will talk about how to safely transport your backyard chickens. Not many chicken keepers know about the extensive history of chickens. It may be surprising but your cute backyard chickens were once wild birds that roamed the jungles of Southeast Asia.
Different types of chicken bedding have different uses in the coop. Using sand in the coop is something you either love or hate. Why opinions are so strong we are not sure but there is not much middle ground on this subject. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Home Health and Care Just how many roosters should you keep with your hens? As you shall see there is no perfect number or rule to follow as each flock is different. Let us know in the comments section below, would you get a rooster?
Or, do you already have a rooster? I live on an orchard and the owner has 4 old chickens, 9 young ones, and 3 newer chicks, as well as a gorgeous rooster that I have taken on some of the responsibilities for.
I love watching and treating them. The rooster is a true gentleman with his hens. It serve me almost every day and I can see the resuts on my floc of 43…! What a great read I just had reading your article on Google. Loved it. Have a great day. Thanks for being kind and loving to your flocks. My sweet chicken Clyde, was killed by a bear recently. I cried for weeks. He brought me so much joy and love. I will miss him terribly and hope that I can see him again, in the next life, in Heaven.
He did not deserve to die like that. I will love you to the day I die. Love, Jane Hazard. You will see your chicken Clyde again, in Romans said that all nature waits for its redemption, God loves animals and created them with the capacity to love humans, and they respond to love, also, all desires of our heart will supply Him to us, and return to us our loved ones, since animals never rejected God, their redemption is sure. We are newbies and have recently added 10 chicks 9 weeks now to our flock of two.
One rooster and one small Japanese bantam hen. Little hen is the bully and we keep them separate. I have to supervise any contact. Your site is so helpful. Much more to learn. The girls are 6 months old.
I have had my rooster since he was a chick 7 months now and he has suddenly become aggressive towards my 3 year old. He has been handled and played with the entire time by myself, my husband and the 3 kiddos, my husband has said he the rooster has been aggressive for a while but I have only just started seeing it.
What can we do? I have 2 roosters, 34 hens. My alfa rooster takes his job seriously and does it well. I personally recommend having a rooster. They offer protection that I cannot. We have 2 separate flocks but plan to integrate. First flock 13 hens are a year old, free range and no rooster. Second flock 19 hens not free range yet and one rooster Buff Orpington. I want them all to free range together. Will this overwhelm the rooster? We are deciding if we should keep him before integrating the 2 flocks.
Thank you! For the last 3 months we have had one egg a day. We recently found a much smaller hen on our land who was in a bit of a state, no feathers on her breast or backside. If you are wanting to hatch your own chicks, then you need a rooster to ensure the eggs you are collecting are fertile!
Hens will lay eggs no matter what, but if you want to hatch those eggs you need a male in attendance. There are certain breeds that are more broody than others.
I love my rooster. I owned his mommy and raised him the coop alongside other males and with space enough that he could grow and not become territorial.
An aggressive rooster is dangerous. Their spurs can reach 2 to 4 inches in length and be incredibly sharp. In fact, they are sharp enough to tear open your flesh with very little effort. Although there are ways to remove them , an aggressive chicken can harm you with more than just a spur. Even hens are quick to go after predators with both beak and wings and inflict quite a bit of hurt. Although any rooster has the ability to be aggressive, there are definitely certain breeds that are more quiet and tame than others.
Some of their calming behaviors may come from how you handle and raise them when they are young for example, being around them as they grow and raising them with other males in the hatch. But I have personally found that breeding is the single most influential trait to a non-aggressive bird.
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