I want to move my 13 week old pullets to the coop with the Rooster in it?...

[SarniaTricia]

So, I have a coop with a rooster.
I also have a coop with pullets that won't be 20 weeks until September 30th.
The pen the pullets are in is a bit crowded.

Should I wait until they are 16-18 weeks or would they be OK with a very acitvely breeding adult male?

Thanks
Patricia

 

[Den in Penn]

If the rooster has mature hens to worry about, he is unlikely to bother the pullets until they are ready. I let mine free range together at 12 weeks, no problems.

 

[azygous]

I agree. The pullets should be fine with the rooster.

In the past, my roosters wouldn't become interested in the pullets until they were very close to point of lay. In fact, I would use the rooster's interest in the maturing youngsters as a barometer as to which were pullets and which were going to be cockerels. It was pretty much fail-safe. The roosters completely ignored the ones that turned out to be cockerels, and only focused their attentions on pullets close to maturity.

 

[SarniaTricia]

Thanks all
I will be moving some of the larger girls into the Layer Coop (with my big boy roo) this weekend.
I am almost done 3 breeding pens, to seperate the pullets by breed, so I will take more of the pressure off that pen and everyone will be happier.
Thanks
Patricia

 

[donrae]

If my rooster tried to breed a very immature pullet I wouldn't keep him. Now, a pullet getting close to laying is fair game. I've raised most of my babies with roosters and had no problems.