I have (6) 2 month old chickens. They are NH Reds and getting pretty big already. My friend is giving me one of her gentler roosters. My question is when is a good time to introduce them since they are still young?
I would think ASAP would be best. But also caution to do it slowly and consistantly building up to longer and longer periods of time each day and of course staying close to head off any major problems until you feel confidant that they will all play nice. I just say this since my experience with trying to help my neighbor introduce a young roo into her exsisting flock of hens. It can be ugly, but slowly and consistantly I think will win them all over happily. One other thought. You might want their first introduction to be through a fence. If you have a way to keep them seperate but allow them be next to each other were they can always see each other and then add the 'play time' in like I discribed above...?
I would not put them together right away (bio-security) and I think it is a good idea to let them get used to each other for awhile. Can you put them somehow next to each other so they can see but not touch and get used to each other first? I'm not saying the bird has anything wrong with it but anytime I get new birds I put them in adjoining pens first for awhile before I put them together. If you do put them together I agree with the other poster that you will want to stay close and be ready to head off any problems that may occur.
