12 week bantam roo alone, how to introduce 8 week old large fowl?

[MadamContrary]

I hatched 3 roos on January 1st, I re-homed the two more dominant ones about 4 days ago. I am concerned about him being lonely but, the rest of my chicks are just hitting 8 weeks old and then some that are just over 4 weeks old. I have the younger ones in separate runs next to one another, as I was trying to integrate them. I didn't expect to have a single rooster, his coop and run are in the back yard and the others in the front. Will just being next to the others help him with loneliness (I can bring him up front)? I definitely don't want to rush integration and have injuries. But, I wonder if he would be more willing to join up with the 8 week olds (I roo and probably two pullets)? Any thoughts are appreciated. He's a pretty chill bird, he's not crowing or showing any major "roostery" attitude yet.

 

[NatJ]

I would try the fastest integration method first:
put the 12 week old in with the 8 week olds, and watch what happens.

Of course they will probably ruffle up their feathers and jump around "fighting" a bit, but I think they will probably settle it with no real injuries.

If it gets too serious, then grab one of them to stop it, and put the 12 week bird into a pen next to the others. That will help with loneliness and also help with integration, and you'll just do it the slow way.

If the lone bird was smaller/younger, you would need to be more careful. But he is oldest & biggest, while the others are more numerous, so I think it should balance out pretty well.

Edit: missed that he's a bantam. So he's not bigger, but is still older. And being a bantam, he might mature even faster than if he were large fowl. I'd still try just putting him in, then watch and see how it goes.

 

[MadamContrary]

I would try the fastest integration method first:
put the 12 week old in with the 8 week olds, and watch what happens.

Of course they will probably ruffle up their feathers and jump around "fighting" a bit, but I think they will probably settle it with no real injuries.

If it gets too serious, then grab one of them to stop it, and put the 12 week bird into a pen next to the others. That will help with loneliness and also help with integration, and you'll just do it the slow way.

If the lone bird was smaller/younger, you would need to be more careful. But he is oldest & biggest, while the others are more numerous, so I think it should balance out pretty well.

Edit: missed that he's a bantam. So he's not bigger, but is still older. And being a bantam, he might mature even faster than if he were large fowl. I'd still try just putting him in, then watch and see how it goes.

That's kind of what I was thinking as well. There's not a huge size difference between them, but the bantam looks bigger with the frizzled feathers. It's probably worth a bit of risk, versus him being alone any longer. He loved being pet when he was smaller but, has become a bit indifferent now that he's older.