Adding roosters and a hen to main flock

[22lilchickens]

Ok so I have a main flock of 5 buff Orpington hens, 4 golden comets,3 amber whites and 1 bourbon red turkey hen. They are all in what we call the main coop, and then I have a coop bout the same size because it was te first one we built, but it had a smaller run. In that coop I have 2 lavender Orpington roosters and 1 hen, and 1 lavender Americauan(probably spelled it totally wrong) i know that your bit suppose too but I got them from a breeder when they were all 2 days old and have been together since and never have a had them fight or pull feathers. My main laying hens are probably 4 months older then the others. But know my only hen in the other coop(we call the rooster coop) has started laying so I decided it's time for her to go to the other coop, after a very long time I finally got her and have her in a portable dog carrier waiting to be put in the other coop. I put my hens and turkey locked up in the coop so they will roost and sleep. So I'm bout to put then hen in there. I'm going to do it where they all wake up together most people find this very successful. But I'm worried since her friends The roosters but all my hens are very docile there so docile that the head hen is a buff Orpington. But the lavender hen is bigger then most of them since she is an Orpington. Should I be worried alot? And I plan on moving my biggest lavender Orpington rooster to that coop for spring so I can have some little chicks.

 

[Mrs. K]

Moving a single hen is a tough move, and while chickens may be nice, they will NOT be nice to a single bird that is added.

Personally, I would add the both rooster and the hens together. They will be friends. You do not say how old the new chicks are?

IF they new chicks are a lot smaller, you should wait, if they are about equal size, the more you add at one time, the less fighting there will be, although there will be some.

Mrs K

 

[22lilchickens]

The roosters are total gentleman a I was always worried Bout then picking on the single hen, but then hen would keep all the boys in line and the main hens are about 30 or more weeks and the lavender hen just started laying a week ago but she is bigger then some of my older hens

 

[justplainbatty]

Ok so I have a main flock of 5 buff Orpington hens, 4 golden comets,3 amber whites and 1 bourbon red turkey hen. They are all in what we call the main coop, and then I have a coop bout the same size because it was te first one we built, but it had a smaller run. In that coop I have 2 lavender Orpington roosters and 1 hen, and 1 lavender Americauan(probably spelled it totally wrong) i know that your bit suppose too but I got them from a breeder when they were all 2 days old and have been together since and never have a had them fight or pull feathers. My main laying hens are probably 4 months older then the others. But know my only hen in the other coop(we call the rooster coop) has started laying so I decided it's time for her to go to the other coop, after a very long time I finally got her and have her in a portable dog carrier waiting to be put in the other coop. I put my hens and turkey locked up in the coop so they will roost and sleep. So I'm bout to put then hen in there. I'm going to do it where they all wake up together most people find this very successful. But I'm worried since her friends The roosters but all my hens are very docile there so docile that the head hen is a buff Orpington. But the lavender hen is bigger then most of them since she is an Orpington. Should I be worried alot? And I plan on moving my biggest lavender Orpington rooster to that coop for spring so I can have some little chicks.

You can either put them all in at once or keep the roosters separate for now. If the roosters are less than a year old, they don't really have spurs yet. They don't usually use their spurs on a hen anyway. The roosters need more hens and, they must work their way up the pecking order before the hens will allow them to mount. The older hens will keep the younger roosters in line until they attain dominance and confidence. If the roosters are too hormonally crazy with the hens, you can always take them out again. I personally don't separate out roosters who are already sexually active with hens because it makes them crazy frustrated.

 

[22lilchickens]

When I was putting her in there were some of my hens at the door cuddled up and when I was opening the door wide enough for the dog Carrier and opened the cage door she was just kinda standing and then two my hens were walking I'm the cage with her Nd just checking the cage out then I got her and my amber white out the dog cage, and closed the coop door they all just stood there and looke at me like nothing happened so in the morning when I let them out I will find out how it's going.

 

[justplainbatty]

When I was putting her in there were some of my hens at the door cuddled up and when I was opening the door wide enough for the dog Carrier and opened the cage door she was just kinda standing and then two my hens were walking I'm the cage with her Nd just checking the cage out then I got her and my amber white out the dog cage, and closed the coop door they all just stood there and looke at me like nothing happened so in the morning when I let them out I will find out how it's going.

If your roosters are pacing and making growly noises, put them in tomorrow night. they are already bonded to the two hens and will be happier if they are part of the flock too.