Adding a new rooster to the flock.

[kloverdarling]

So I currently have a flock of 13. 12 ladies and 1 rooster. They are about to be 14 weeks old on Monday... A friend of mine who has chickens also ended up with a rooster and cannot keep him... What's the best way to introduce them?

I have 4 EE girls, 3 bjg girls, 5 BPR girls and my roo is a bpr
The rooster I would be taking in is a silver laced polish batman...

I free range so I'd really like this to work...

 

[Casper101Popcor]

The roosters will definitely fight over the ladies. Do they have spurs, and are they cut down? Because if they aren't they can hurt themselves badly. They will fight then work things out. The new one is a bantam but the other roo is not, so its most likely BPR roo will be dominant.

 

[kloverdarling]

About a week ago I noticed little nubbins on Diesel's legs so I think they are starting to come in but are not full on spurs as of yet. My group is really easy going...

 

[Mrs. K]

Truthfully, I think you are asking for a great deal of trouble. Juvenile roosters tend to fight when they are flock mates that have been raised together as they come into maturity. A strange rooster will be considered as competition, which will make for very escalated fights.

And if by some strange unlikely event, they do get along, then your poor hens are going to be relentlessly over- mated and harassed. Juvenile roosters are very randy, and relentless. They tend to develop sexually long before the pullets will. They will get bigger faster than the pullets, this tends to make them into bullies. In my experience, roosters raised with just flock mates, often become very human aggressive.

Personally I would advise culling both roosters. However, if you have your heart set on having a rooster, keep the one you have, but keep a close eye on him for aggressive behavior. Be very careful with small children, as small children and women are who roosters tend to attack first.

Roosters can ruin the whole chicken hobby. Two roosters that are raised together with 20-25 hens might work if there is enough space. Adding a strange rooster to an established flock is very apt to be a major wreck. Cock fighting can be to the death. And if they don't kill each other the first time, they are generally willing to try it again.

It is a nice thing to do for your friend, but chicken society is very often not nice, and I really don't think this will work out.

MRs K

 

[kloverdarling]

I really feel as though my flock is really calm, including my rooster. They are still fairly young but I would put the new guy in a pen by himself for a good while. I free range my current flock, they have access to 40 acres in total. I would pen the new guy for sure. But there is plenty of room. I am planning on dropping my numbers to make room for new babies at some point and my BPR roo is something I am seriously pondering on including in my numbers drop. Not because he is troublesome but because I really want a polish male along with my EE girls. I think I could create an interesting mix there at some point.

 

[Mrs. K]

If you want the polish rooster, keep him, and cull the other one. A laid back flock is a balanced flock, and something to strive for, as it increase egg production and the health of your flock. Having two roosters is strongly likely to change this, but give it a try if you want.

 

[aart]

At 14 weeks they are still basically genderless......but the cockerel will soon be feeling his hormones, then you'll see some fireworks.