Adding a new Rooster

[J99]

my Rooster is 5 months old and runs the coop, I want to add another Rooster but I don’t want them to fight or pick on each other or the new Rooster to bully all of my pullets
How can I go about that safely?
I have enough space but they are penned

 

[DobieLover]

my Rooster is 5 months old and runs the coop, I want to add another Rooster but I don’t want them to fight or pick on each other or the new Rooster to bully all of my pullets
How can I go about that safely?
I have enough space but they are penned

Raise it as a day old chick. If you bring an "of age" cockerel into a confined pen with an existing cockerel, there will be blood.

 

[J99]

If I add a baby chick in my existing flock wont the Rooster as well as the hens all bully it horribly ?

 

[aart]

I want to add another Rooster

Why do you need a second male bird?

If I add a baby chick in my existing flock wont the Rooster as well as the hens all bully it horribly ?

Most likely, depends on how you manage it.
Integration needs to be managed carefully, IMO, to reduce chances of injury.

Knowing more about your goals for keeping chickens,
your flock size(numbers, ages, genders),
your coop(size in feet by feet with pics),
would help us help you.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have enough space but they are penned

There are several posts on here where people say they have enough room yet the root of their problem is that they don't. How big, in feet, are your various coops? How big in feet are your runs? How are they connected? Photos can help. And how many chickens do you have and what ages are they now? How many total chickens do you expect to have in the future?

my Rooster is 5 months old and runs the coop, I want to add another Rooster but I don’t want them to fight or pick on each other or the new Rooster to bully all of my pullets
How can I go about that safely?

It can be hard to get chickens to behave unnaturally. If you put two males of a certain level of maturity together they will determine which is the boss. That is instinctive. But until they reach certain maturity levels age differences can go a long way in determining how they behave. You do not get guarantees of behaviors with any living animals, but a mature rooster is more likely to help take care of a baby chick of either sex than he is to harm it. You don't have a rooster yet, you have an immature cockerel. That makes it much harder to predict behaviors. An immature cockerel might be OK with chicks but is a greater risk to them.

What do you consider bullying your pullets? Again maturity plays a part on how they act but a male will mate with the females once certain maturity level are reached. That is instinctive behavior and is necessary for them to act as a flock. If you consider a male mating the females to be bullying then you don't need any males. When the males are immature cockerels and the females are immature pullets they are not going to act like mature adults. If you get baby chicks and raise them with the flock they will still go through that adolescent phase. If you bring in more immature chickens they will be in that adolescent phase. Your best bet to avoid the worst of the drama between a new male and females is to use adults.

But using adults causes another issue, that two mature males will determine which is boss. That means they will fight. If you truly have enough room it's quite possible they will work out a compromise where they work together to protect the flock. That generally means each sets up a territory out of sight of each other and each gets his own harem but there are some cases where they can work it out in tighter spaces. Even with a lot of room they could fight to the death but the less room they have the more likely a fight to the death is.

Siblings raised together that go through puberty often work it out, but things can get really rough between them and on the pullets as they go through adolescence. A baby male chick raised in a flock with a mature male can often work it out, but again adolescence can be rough. And when the cockerel reaches a certain level of maturity he may challenge the dominant male for control of the flock. They might work it out with neither being seriously hurt, or one might die. The more room you have the better your chances.

If we knew your goals and why you want a second rooster we might be able to help more. And knowing your specific size and configuration of facilities could help us come up with specific recommendations. Without that information my suggestion is to wait until they are all adults, bring in an adult rooster, and house each rooster with his hens in totally separated coops and pens so they can't get at each other. I don't know how well that might suit your goals.

 

[Mrs. K]

The short answer is no, you cannot do it safely. The odds of this not working are much higher than the odds of it working.

Reasons:

• Your established rooster is a cockerel, still finding his way. Roosters really do not get the notion of sharing hens. They want all the hens. To have two roosters you need about 25 hens. Sometimes then it may work.
• Your pullets and hens are going to be run ragged. They will be exposed to the fighting roosters, they will be exposed to constant mating, and bullying from the two roosters.

You would have much better luck in rehoming the rooster you have, or culling him before adding a new rooster. When a new poster asks this kind of question, one makes some assumptions: that this is your first flock, so if I am wrong, I apologize. But that would mean your hens are just coming into lay, and at any time the rooster you have could go south in behavior. Many times a rooster starts to become aggressive at this point.

Roosters take quite a bit of experience. There are many aspects to this hobby, it can be enjoyed for years. Take your time and get some experience.

Mrs K

 

[J99]

Ok this was a lot of great information, thank you
So if I want to add a Rooster, I need to wait until mine is adult age and then add a baby cockerel and there’s still some concern with that but that’s my best option . Thank you guys you’re awesome. This is my first flock , I love my Rooster, I just wanted a second one because Of breeding reasons as well as the fact that I just adore them.
I have at this time One Rooster two Drakes, 2 ducks, and 29 pullets.
I have 300 square foot in my inside coop about with roosts every where , then I have 350 square foot in the enclosed run that in the summer they sleep out there also on several roosts , then I have a more open yard they go out in the day time that’s about 550 square foot. I have a pool, four big feeding and drinking stations, and sporadic small ones through out .
My Cockerell is five months old and my pullets are 12/15 weeks old

 

[Ridgerunner]

So if I want to add a Rooster, I need to wait until mine is adult age and then add a baby cockerel and there’s still some concern with that but that’s my best option

That's the way I do it. You might have enough room to make it work or you might still have issues. You never know.

Good luck!

 

[Mrs. K]

That changes a lot of things. Many people ask these kind of questions with 4-6 hens.

Raising up a chick next year under an multi-generational flock, Pray for a broody hen, and this will probably work.

 

[J99]

Yes I hope so , plus I have ten buff orpingtons and they are known to be broody so hope hope