[dawnie77]

1 (queenie)of my 4 hens seems to be quite comfortable with me, i sit in the entrance of my shed and hand feed my girls before bed, they toodle of to bed but queenie sneakes passed me and makes herself comfortable on my daughters bike, i dont wanna freak her out by flapping my arms to get her out so i sat chatting with her telling her she cant sleep here lmao (as you do lol) well the last 3 nights she has done the same and each night i have picked her up gave her a stroke and put her in with the others, im wondering why she dont go in with the others, cud she be at the bottom of the pecking order? or does she just love my company lol this is where she got her name cause she sits there as tho she was royality lol
Also i have 2 younger chicks about 7 week and i think i may have a cockerel, not to sure if i want a cockerel or not yet cause ive heard they become very protective of his girls and there not so tame, dont want it to ruin the personalities of the flock i already have. if it is a cockerel is that likley to happen? 

[Helenaj]

It sounds as though queenie has found herself a comfy place to sleep and doesn't want to be ousted, but she has to learn to sleep in the coop with everyone else. If you keep putting her in there she will eventually get the message. Can you move the bike out of her way so it's not an option at bedtime?

As for cockerels, it's 50/50 what you might get. I have two cockerels (did have three until recently) and all of them are gentle with me and their girls, all but one I have raised from a chick so they know me well. You need to handle them alot when young, so they know you. However, you can always get a rogue that will become agressive even though they know you and this can cause injury problems - very serious ones if you have young children. On some cocks the spurs can be over 2 inches long! I have scars on each leg from a cockerel attack from when I was a child and I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone.

As to changing the personality of the flock, I can't honestly say that anything bad has happened with mine. If anything I think it has improved mine as it's lovely to see the cockerel calling his girls over for tasty titbits he's found or calling the alarm if there is a heron or bird of prey about. But there's also the downside of the noise - cockerels start very early in the summer (about 4:30am!) and thankfully, I have very understanding neighbours but others on this site have not been so lucky, so that may be something you will need to consider also.

[bantam novice]

I agree with HelenaJ here.  Neighbours can be an issue.  Maybe a few free eggs will help!  In any case good luck whatever you decide.

[dawnie77]

thanks guys, i think i will speak with the man who i bought from and see if i can do a swap for another female, if i swap the cockreal as soon as for a female of the same age they should be ok shouldnt they?
im new to chickens and i sit an watch them alot and when i let the little ones out for a bit more space the one i think is a cock keeps pecking at the other and its comb has suddenly change to a brighter red, i let them all out together supervised to help out the breaking in part and one of the older ones bounced him/her and the chick gave back as good as he got whereas the other little one done as she was told.
when do cockreals start doing there bit with the ladies? im thinking would it be better to hold onto the 2 of them and then when there all comfortable together then remove the possible cock.
hope this all make a little sence lol

[bantam novice]

My little cockerel is now 9 weeks old and has just started to crow.  He has also tried to have his way with the adult bantams hens but they aren't allowing it yet!

[SoniaBA]

My cockerel started crowing at 8 weeks old but only in the house on a morning until we let them out. Yesterday at 11 weeks old, he started crowing outside too. So him and his cockerel friend had a trip to the farm.

We dropped them off and nipped away for an hour. When we went back they had settled in rather too well as 'Mr Crow' was picking on the hens!