Added my first rooster

[lukkyseven]

So brief description of what I have currently.

12 hens that were hatched in mid August. Seven of them are currently laying. Some of the girls seem to be a little slower than others, but everyone is healthy.

Coop is 4' x 8' with multiple roost levels and a nesting box attached. Run is roughly 6' wide and about 24' long.

Received a new Rooster from my neighbor (he is about 6 months old, maybe 5 months - younger than my hens). I have quarantined him for 3ish+ weeks completely away from my run.
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I have never owned a Rooster, I've been around flocks where they have had a rooster since birth, but have choose to not own one myself. Now that I am changing that opinion. What should I expect the integration time to be? What I mean by that is, about how long before he is accepted and can walk around freely? His only current quarrel is with my top 2 hens. I think this is to be expected, I'm just curious for what period. I would have thought that he would be the aggressor and it would be the Hens I'd have to look out for. I am taking the approach of leaving all the chickens locked up in the run for about a week so that my new rooster can recognize where home is for him before I slowly start to let him out.

The other problem at hand is he wasn't allowed to roost last night. The girls kept him off the roost and he was forced into a nesting box. My thought is I could go out at night and remove him from the nest box and put him on the roost as there is plenty of room.

Your opinions are appreciated.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

They'll sort it out. If you give him treats and he shares with the girls by calling them over, they will become much more accepting of him.

 

[Shadrach]

Have a read of this. It may help you forestall any problems.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

 

[Folly's place]

You have pullets and a cockerel, so everyone is pretty immature still. And, your coop and run are very small for this flock, so I do hope that you can enlarge it soon. Do you have more than one feeder and waterer? That's helpful too.
So far things seem to be going well with your new boy, and that's great.
Pictures?!
Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

So you have a dozen pullets about 7 months old and a cockerel one to two months younger. Some pullets are laying and can be considered fairly mature but the cockerel and some of the pullets are still pretty immature. Space is limited. Not sure if all your roosts are higher than the nests. Two of your pullets, probably two that are laying, are rough on him.

To me it sounds like a maturity thing. His hormones haven't hit yet or they are real mild, otherwise you'd be talking about him bothering you pullets. Those hormones should hit pretty soon. Those two pullets are the dominant ones and don't want to give up their dominant position. It's likely he will be challenging them soon but for now he is probably trying to avoid them. They probably peck him if he gets close and may even seek him out some to bully him, no wonder he wants to stay away. As tight as your space is it is hard for him to avoid them.

At some point he will mature enough to take over the flock and displace those two as flock master. That takeover may be peaceful, it may be violent. Some of that depends on his personality, some depends on the personality of the pullets. An added twist is that some of your pullets are probably still maturing. One of them may try to take over as flock master before that cockerel does. When they are going through puberty can be a really interesting time.

The reason he is sleeping in the nest is that he probably gets beat up if he tries to sleep on the roosts, even low on the roosts. You don't have much room so it is hard for him to avoid them on the roosts. I've had hens leave their normal roosting place to go to the far end so they could beat up on less dominant chickens. I solved that problem by putting up a "juvenile" roost, a little lower than the main roosts, separated horizontally a few feet, and higher than the nests. I don't know f you have enough room in your coop to do that.

I keep mentioning your small coop because I think that is your main problem. I hate crowding them in a coop because I am more likely to have behavioral problems, I have to work harder, and I have less flexibility to handle problems. When he matures to the point that he wants to take over it may get really bad. Or it may go smoothly. No way to tell ahead of it happening.

So what can you do, other than building a bigger coop and run?

One option, get rid of him. Problem solved.

Keep doing what you are doing but keep moving him to the roost after dark. He may eventually start sleeping out there. Just be persistent. This has worked.

I'd be thinking about what I'd do with him if it does turn really violent out there. Have a Plan B ready. In your position I'd approach it with providing a predator'proof place to put him by himself for a while. Keep him isolated for a couple of months and try again to integrate him. See if he has matured enough to just take over. If it is still violent isolate him a little longer and try again.

It is possible he may be able to take over very peacefully. Mine typically do, even with fully mature hens in the flock. But my coop is 8' x 12' and even when they are packed tight I have over 40 square feet per chicken outside. Often when this is going on I have over 100 square feet per chicken outside.

Good luck!

 

[lukkyseven]

If I could hurry up and get some tree's cut down then I'd have a lot more space. Chickens are being moved into a 8 x 28 run. The coop size is still 4x8, but I could potentially make it a little bigger. This is all going to be inside of a 40x40 fenced run that they'll have access to most of the time.

Just went out and checked. This is night three. He's up and roosted with the lesser hens. He got in without any problems. In what is an even more crazy turn of events, I went from a few hens laying to getting 9 eggs today.

Plan B for now will be that I have two coops. As soon as I can get this next one built. Plan C is Tuck gets fried.

 

[aart]

Plan B for now will be that I have two coops. As soon as I can get this next one built.

Build the second coop large enough for all the birds...and some extras down the road.

 

[Folly's place]

I started with five of six bantams, long ago, and now usually overwinter 35-ish.
Chicken math is REAL!
Mary