Poorly chicken

[simonmjames]

Hi all

We've had our 6 hens and a cockerell in our Eglu with a 3m run for a month or so now and all is well. They had been used to a slightly bigger coop but after a bit of jostling settle themselves in their fine at night.

However, we also inherited another cockerell at the same time - he was a "late bloomer" who slipped through the net as far as the previous owners were concerned - or they had their suspicions but didn't tell us. Either way, it's fine for now - he's in a small seperate coop a bit away from everyone and we're trying to put him on a lonely hearts. But what with lockdown and avian flu restrictions there are no takers so we're thinking of getting him his own set of hens.

My question is: If we got another eglu for him , would it be best to have it in a completely different part of the allotment or could we have the two eglus end to end with the (partitioned) run in between? And if we did that, how hard is it to create a side panel in the run so we can reach in to feed etc ?

 

Or is the whole idea just a non-starter? 

 

Thanks 

 

[Cat tails]

I have no advice on what the better option is. Maybe @The Dogmother or @Lewis has some advice.

[Lewis]

Hey, why have you separated from the others - was there an issue with them fighting or was it precautionary?

I have a Walk in Run and over the years have had many young cockerels in there together, for months at a time and (touch wood) never had fights.

If they have enough space they could live together in theory but a Classic run isn't massive. I think two runs end-to-end would cause more issues as they can't sort out dominance and they'd just attempt to fight through the bars. Even if they're separate you'll also have the issue of crowing competitions which may cause complaints if there are any houses near the allotment.
Personally if you never planned to have two groups of chickens I would rehome him or consider finding someone to dispatch him.

[simonmjames]

Thanks for that.  The new cockerel was seperated before we took on the hens - we were told there had been fighting - but we really just inherited him. I take your point about them still just fighting through the fence. At the moment, there's a bit of competitive crowing but the allotment has no neighbours and other plot holders seem fine with it. But yes - we'll keep him advertised as a lonely heart for now and then maybe have to make a the more difficult decision.... 

[Daphne]

You could have 2 sets of birds with their own hens if you wanted, especially as I suspect it will be hard to rehome the single boy.   Personally I would keep them in separate areas, preferably out of sight of one another, which is what I used to do in my large back garden.  If you have to have the eglus close by then I would try to screen one from the other.  Obviously the cockerals will know there is something going on, but preventing line of sight does have a slight mollifying effect.

[simonmjames]

Thanks - yes there's room on the allotment for there to be some distance between the two eglus. The thing is that we're getting quite attached to him - he seems so cheerful! Decisions decisions....