How old do my hens have to be before I can put my adult rooster in their coop?

[MsChickenMomma]

Hello everyone!

I currently have an order of 10 pullets placed at Meyer Hatchery, and I'm getting them next month.

I have a 10 month old rooster who isn't getting along with my other rooster, so we ordered some chicks, and we are going to build another coop for him and the new hens.

My question is, how old do the new hens have to be before I can put my adult rooster in with them? I was thinking maybe 4 months old, but let me know what you guys think!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

4 months should be fine. The closer to laying age the better. You might try putting him in the new coop soon with a couple of the hens till they're old enough.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Right now he has been living in the front space of my barn. I've been putting a few hens in there with him during the day. Once the new hens are about 2 months old I'm going to put them into the new coop.

Our goats are currently living in the space that we are going to use to build the new coop, and they won't be going to their new home for another month or two.

My rooster is very content where he is now, and waiting until September to put him in the coop with the new hens should be fine. He's already been living separate from the other chickens all winter, and we've had no issues with that. I still put him into the coop at night. He also spends most of the day running around the yard with the rest of the flock when I'm out there to supervise him.

When we move the new hens into the new coop, he will be able to see them through the fence, but he won't be able to get to them. We are hoping that will make putting him into the coop when it's time, a bit easier.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

you should be good. Sounds like you have lots of room and options
I find adding a rooster to a flock of pullets is easy. They're not brutal except when breeding.
They seem to like girls, I don't know why.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Lol! My rooster who is separate from the flock doesn't get much "action" with the hens anymore, so he goes nuts when he's in the yard with the hens and the other rooster is inside.