Help! Into'd roo this morning and not sure it's going well.

[Benelli]

I just introduced a Buff roo to my six happy hens and two peahens. Things didn't go well. He immediately attacked my dominant RIR. I broke them up but not before she drew blood on his beard(?). He went after the peahens too. All I did the first 15 minutes was break up fights. Is this normal? Things have gotten a little quieter, hence I"m in here asking for input. I know there's a "pecking order" that needs to be established, but I really wasn't expecting fights, just a little pushing and shoving so to speak.

 

[gretchenhau]

It took 3 days when I introduces a roo after mine died warding off a neighbors dog.

 

[Benelli]

Three days to chill out? Yikes, did you allow him in the coop at night before the three days?

 

[Year of the Rooster]

What you want to do first is put him in a separate pen/coop where he is not able to get to the hens, but is still able to see them. Chicken wire is sufficient enough.

 

[emys]

The new rooster always fights the dominant hen if she doesn't agree he is the boss. Last time I introduced a new rooster, he fought the dominant hen, the second dominant hen and the third dominant hen, before the rest of the hens said "OK, You The Man for us!" In my flock this took all of 2 hours. It really depends on the flock - how strong hens and rooster are how combative their natures are, if they've been with a rooster before.

Were they able to see each other visually prior to the introduction?

 

[Benelli]

Too late for that. My tractor coop is occupied by my neighbors injured hen, unrelated. They're all in the fringe of the woods now scratching so hopefully this is a good sign.

 

[Benelli]

I let him hang out outside the coop for about 30 minutes and no issues. The peahens were out with him and gave him a wide berth. When I let the hens out things were fine for about a minute or two and then off they go scraping. The peahens are sissies until the hens are out then they get a little brave. They're actually a little protective of the hens too. When he jumped on the 2nd dominant hen, one of the peahens tried to join in.