Forum

Hi there! Very excited to come across you, it is most needed for those who want to be rooster ambassadors! We are very new roo-parents, with no hen chicken experience to boot. We have 3 gorgeous roos, and thankfully they get along very well. Two were dumped and took months to catch (and had to see their siblings being rundown by cars), so understandably like their personal space and are on the skittish side. Our third boy we got a bit younger, when his mum found out one of her chicks was a boy. He is much more energetic and trusting as he hasn't had any bad human experiences yet. My question - I hear about giving them regular health checks. While I do understand their importance, it would be very stressful for our two boys to catch them to do this. I'm just trying to weigh up if it's still worthwhile, or whether we can just do clandestine health checks by observation only. Or do you think in the long run, it's good for them to get used to being handled? We've had them for 6 months now, and they've come a long way, so I just don't want to erode the trust we've built with them. Same really with trimming their spurs - ours free roam (supervised) all day and I do feel like it is a good self defence for them, should something occur. And of course I am mindful of the stress of grabbing them to do it. How important do you think it is to trim them? I have respected our boys space and just hang with them rather than trying to force things along. I love them just as they are, so don't need them to let me pet them for my enjoyment (as much as it is sooo tempting!). But do you think it's in their best interest for me to try and close that gap? Many thanks for all that you do Christine

We have several roosters that we have had to separate from the others. Can we get them to live peacefully with each other?

I have five chickens: four hens and one rooster. The hens live in the big coop while Max lives in a smaller coop right next door (so he can see them and communicate with them). The hens take their strolls in the yard at different times from Max. I learned the hard way to keep Max and the girls separate since he was literally wearing them out. (Sometimes the hens do get 'out' when Max is out and he does take them under his wing, so to speak. He is a good boy, and bascially a gentle soul. Many of the ideas you are expousing in this web site (and book) are similar to how we have been handling Max (which has led to his gentle nature). It's funny, some others find Max intimidating and 'scary' yet Max is very calm with us. He is a rooster who generally likes his people. Here is a photo of Max... looking forward to much more of your information. Thank you!