- Feb 15, 2013
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Hi, my daughter and I have three coops... one regular one, a duck pen with a single Rouen drake, and a retirement coop with 2 bantams. Well, the 2 in the retirement coop are 12 years old, and one died today. The other one, a very sweet Japanese bantam, is pretty upset, so we’re trying to figure out what to do. We had previously moved them into their own coop because they were getting picked on, but there were more chickens in the big coop at the time. The large coop has 5 much younger chickens in it who all get along well, so we’re afraid to move her into there.
My husband (who knows even less about poultry than my daughter and I do) thinks we should put her in with the drake, but I saw how he treated the duck we used to have (before she got killed by a hawk.) I’m thinking he may really harass the little bantam and try to mate with her. Do ducks do that to chickens?
We do have another younger mystery bantam in the big coop, but I don’t want to move her in and have her pick on the old Japanese or have to worry about the Japanese dying and leaving the young one stuck alone in the retirement coop in case she can’t be re-introduced to the larger flock in the future.
Does anyone have any suggestions for us? Has anyone kept a single chicken in a little coop by itself successfully? Should we try to re-introduce her into the big coop since there are now fewer chickens there? Would she be ok with the drake if we moved her in there? We really love her and don’t want her to be distressed or hurt. Thanks for your help.
My husband (who knows even less about poultry than my daughter and I do) thinks we should put her in with the drake, but I saw how he treated the duck we used to have (before she got killed by a hawk.) I’m thinking he may really harass the little bantam and try to mate with her. Do ducks do that to chickens?
We do have another younger mystery bantam in the big coop, but I don’t want to move her in and have her pick on the old Japanese or have to worry about the Japanese dying and leaving the young one stuck alone in the retirement coop in case she can’t be re-introduced to the larger flock in the future.
Does anyone have any suggestions for us? Has anyone kept a single chicken in a little coop by itself successfully? Should we try to re-introduce her into the big coop since there are now fewer chickens there? Would she be ok with the drake if we moved her in there? We really love her and don’t want her to be distressed or hurt. Thanks for your help.