A neighbor is moving and I have inherited a new flock. I have a 7 month old rooster and the new flock has an older rooster. I have thrown in the 19 new hens with my 16 hens and rooster. Is it safe to also introduce the new rooster? I now have him in a separate cage, thinking it will be easier to introduce him after a few days. Any advice?
I don't know much but a friend of ours had over 20 hens and because of the large number of hens, she had 2 roosters with no squabbling. I would think it'll be ok, if you introduce slowly and they may squabble a bit but maybe keep an eye out when you introduce the new rooster to see how they get along and make sure there's no serious harm to each other.
When you put them together, they will fight, probably quite seriously. They might be able to workout their differences and form a good partnership to take care of he flock. They might fight to the death. I don't know which will happen. Just try to do it where they have as much room as possible to get away from each other. I'd probably do it sooner than later. There is probably some confusion because of the pecking order stuff going on right now. There will be more of the same if you add the rooster later after things have settled down. I'd probably add him while the confusion is at the peak so they may be a little busy with other things, but either way, expect a serious fight.
Adding a rooster to a flock with an established rooster is unpredictable. Sometimes the younger of the two will submit and stay fairly far away from the adult. On the other hand the young rooster may be at the age where he's ready to challenge other roosters for his own hens. I honestly don't think you will know until you try it. I would try to introduce them while one is in a cage. If they try to fight through the cage, it is very possible they will fight when both are loose. If you try it and the fight does not last more than a couple seconds and no blood is drawn then they may get along well.
