Another rooster question :)

[Alicat4244]

Recently we just added 6 pullets to our coop.we took a total of 3 weeks doing this but it went awesome when I put the new girls in with my original 4. My friend just realized she has 2 roos and I have agreed to take one. We think he's close in age to my youngest which are 14 weeks maybe a little younger. Ok so my question. Should I do a slow introduction? Or just put him in? I have a coop tractor which is what I used with my pullets and put right by the main coop so everyone could see each other and once the body language was good I let the little ones out to mingle. I did that for a little over a week then one night I put then in the main coop and all has been well. Should I try the same way? Or just throw the little guy in ?

 

[chicknmania]

Actually, you should quarantine any new birds you are adding to your flock for at least three weeks....we do a month. That doesn't mean putting them in a dark box somewhere, it just means keeping them separate and away from the flock a bit, in case of illness. If quarantine goes well, and he seems healthy, then yes, introduce him as you did the others. It's so much easier on all of them to introduce them slowly.

 

[aldarita]

First of all let me congratulate you for being so diligent in introducing your new chicks. You did the right thing. Regarding your cockerel, I agree with the previous poster, you need to quarantine him and then introduce him as you did the others. Everything goes better this way. Yes it is a lot of work but it's better for the sake of your flock dynamics. Good luck!

 

[Alicat4244]

Thank you both for your reply. I did not quarantine the others but purchased them from same farm as my first set of hens and they get inspected. Since this little guy is coming from somewhere different I will definitely do that then introduce slowly .