I have a very small flock, 1 rooster and 1 hen, who are a year old. I started with 32 chicks last year and through sales of laying hens, sales of trios and roosters on the rotisserie, I am down to the 2.
I also recently hatched 13, who are now between 9 and 12 weeks old. I am trying to do some supervised integration, about an hour a day, and some see but don't touch integration. Otherwise, they are in separate coops and runs. With the supervised integration, I let the older ones into the young ones’ run.
As you can guess, the lonely pair are attacking the young ones during the supervised integration. Nothing serious, just a few runs and chomps and pulling out feathers. I separate them if it is more than a couple of skirmishes.
It is early on, so I expect it will get better, but you would think the 2 of them would like some mates. If a new laying hen just showed up out of the blue, I assume the rooster would welcome her.
As well, I was not paying attention as to whether the rooster was going after just the cockerels and if the hen was just going after the pullets, seeing them as competition.
I also recently hatched 13, who are now between 9 and 12 weeks old. I am trying to do some supervised integration, about an hour a day, and some see but don't touch integration. Otherwise, they are in separate coops and runs. With the supervised integration, I let the older ones into the young ones’ run.
As you can guess, the lonely pair are attacking the young ones during the supervised integration. Nothing serious, just a few runs and chomps and pulling out feathers. I separate them if it is more than a couple of skirmishes.
It is early on, so I expect it will get better, but you would think the 2 of them would like some mates. If a new laying hen just showed up out of the blue, I assume the rooster would welcome her.
As well, I was not paying attention as to whether the rooster was going after just the cockerels and if the hen was just going after the pullets, seeing them as competition.
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