Hens chasing away new cockerel

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm free ranging, and hatching my own. As @aart said, I had perfectly acceptable fertility (more than 90%, probably not 95%) with a young rooster over almost a score of hens. He went aggressive, and joined me at the table. His son now covers almost 30 birds, fertility has definitely dropped, and I'm raising some of his sons to "fill in the blanks". Every time a rooster is removed from the flock, there's a whole new set of pecking order type behaviors as a new social dynamic is established, and there are no guarantees that behaviors pre and post culling of another rooster will remain basically unchanged.

Which puts me firmly in the camp of @HappyClucker7 , @sourland and @CluckerFamily . "Maybe", "It depends", and "No guarantees".

There never are.

It probably helps me some that I'm raising new birds every 3 weeks +/-, and they tend to stay together for a long while even after being fully integrated into the adult flock. Fuctionally, I have flocks within the flock - at least, once they have the run of the pasture. They feed together in the evenings as a great mob of birds, and sleep similarly.

 

[BigRed68]

Eh, no, common misconception.
Why do you want another male?
Adding a single bird no matter the age and gender is always going to be a tough integration.

The 'rooster' to hen ratio of 1:10 that is often cited is primarily for fertility efficiency in commercial breeding facilities.
It doesn't mean that if a cockbird has 10 hens that he won't abuse or over mate them.
Many breeders keep pairs, trios, quads, etc ....short term and/or long term.
It all depends on the temperaments of the cock and hens and sometimes housing provided.
Backyard flocks can achieve good fertility with a larger ratio.

My dad's friend didn't want the cockerel because of the cockadoodles and they're moving to the city, so we thought it would be okay to take it for him

 

[BigRed68]

My sister has over 50 hens and four roosters. This works because the entire flock free ranges on the 5 acres and everyone goes in different directions, so the many roosters are needed to protect the hens.
Does your flock free range or stay in a run? How do they free range (all together or do they go their own ways)?

So it's hard to see, but there's a fence at the last litte mini tree. These are 2 seperate areas they can go to. I can always increase the size by enlarging the fence if you think that would help. The fence is mainly for their own protection because we have coyotes here.

Currently all my chickens are in picture 1 with the mini house, and my cockerel is in picture 2.

 

[Outta Here]

I have a mature chicken coop of 20+ with a single rooster. I received a new cockerel, about 3 months old, and I don't think he's meshing with the other chickens very well. They have a lot of room and are free range. They have one big house and a mini house.

I made another mini house for the cockerel and tried to keep him isolated so they can get used to each other without physically interacting. But he always jumps out, and one night he jumped out so he can join the other chickens in the mini house to sleep next to them. He didn't do anything to them, he just sat there next to them to sleep. This made me think he doesn't want to be alone, so I just decided to let him do what he wants.

All the chickens in the mini house now sleep in the big house and he sleeps alone in the mini house. Everyone keeps a distance from him, and he's always alone. My main rooster just chases him away if he gets too close. The cockerel tries mounting some of my hens, and immediately every hen chases him away.

I heard you can have 2 roosters as long as there's enough hens, but it seems like all my chickens want nothing to do with him. Is this normal? Do they just need more time?

Completely normal, only my situation was reversed. I think it's more who is the Big Stud and who is not rather than the order in which they join the flock. I brought in a mature Bielefelder rooster and my 13 pullets fell in love. When their kid brother, the Barred Rock cockerel came of age, they wanted nothing to do with him. If he tries to mount them, they fight, escape, and peck him soundly. He's lonely and hangs out on the outskirts of the free rangers, getting chased off by the Big Stud when he tries to come in for treats. But when I put him in the shop but not in the coop at night, he tries as hard as he can to get in with the flock. So now I allow him to roost with them, then put him outside at daylight before the other chickens get to go out. Otherwise, in the confined coop with the Big rooster feeling his cheerios in the morning, he'll get beat up.
I feel sorry for his lonesome existence and plan to rehome him so he can crow without fear and have some girls to breed.