How to add a rooster to an established flock?

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JocelynMc25

JocelynMc25

Chirping
Aug 20, 2015
18
3
62
Hello,

I have been letting my girls free range, and though they love it, we have had some unfortunate losses, which have made both my 5 year old and myself cry
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. Although we followed guidelines while building our coop and made sure our girls actually were allotted 10 square feet of space per bird, we have 2.5 wonderful acres, and they are much happier mucking around snacking on bugs than they are sequestered in their lovely lavender coop.

We have: 5 standard sized girls (down to 1 RI red, 2 black stars, 2 easter eggers) and 1 bantam japanese, 1 bantam frizzle (lost our bantam Silkie last night to a hawk) and 2 Leghorns...aptly named "Dee and Dum". So, today the girls are unhappy, and stuck in their coop & run.

Try as I might, I cannot convince my husband to extend the run....so, I am considering adding a rooster- which I have been told is a fierce protector. I would, of course, make every attempt to attain a roo that is well-mannered and not aggressive...but if I do that, I wonder if he will protect my flock?

Also, how does one introduce an adult rooster? I know with my hens, new introductions have always been very tricky.
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about the loss of your Silkie and leghorns. Roosters are some protection / an early warning system, but if you free range your birds you will have losses even with a rooster, if not to hawks then to something else.
You might like to check out the Predator forum https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/13/predators-and-pests and there are a number of Threads on hawks ie https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/717891/hawks/0_20
With introducing a new bird, it is generally pretty easy to add a roo to an established flock of hens, for the introductory period seeing but no touching through wire seem to work best, ie dividing the coop into two sections or keeping the new/younger ones in a cage inside the coup for a couple of weeks. The chickens will get to know each other and sort of work out a pecking order before actually coming in contact with each other. Letting them out together is a good idea and should help... It will take a couple of weeks to get the pecking order sorted out. There is a nice article in the Learning Center on integrating flocks you might like to check out, (the part about actually combining them is after the quarantine section, depending on where you get the new bird, you may also want to do a medical quarantine) https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock and nice article on the see-but-no-touch into method https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method
 
Welcome to BYC!

I'm sorry for your losses, that's always rough. Have you considered using a chicken tractor? That way your birds would be outside the run and able to enjoy grass, bugs, etc. but still have some protection from predators.

Good luck to you, thanks for joining us!
 
The best a rooster can provide is an early warning system, so the hens have time to scurry and hide. Regardless of heroic intentions roosters do not fare well against predators who have better weapons(claw, teeth, etc) at their disposal. Rooster dies with first impact and hens are left vulnerable again. Free ranging is for folks who accept the losses. If not keep them in a safe enclosed, covered run. It's not cruelty it is LIFE!
 
Thanks for all the helpful advice! I love this website, and I especially love this forum! Before I even signed up, I would read through posts- you all actually saved my chicken, Petal, when she was egg-bound and prolapsed....that's a topic for another thread, but I love that we can all learn through one anothers experiences.

So any who, I think we found a roo! He is 5 months old, but has been hand raised, and has a lovely temperament, so I am told (a case where someone innocently acquired a straight run of a half dozen Chickie's, only to learn 4 were roo's!) I convinced my hubby we were getting either a Great Pyr or a Rooster....considering we already have 1 Aussie Shepherd and 3 cats, guess what he went for? So, hopefully Sunday or Monday he will move in with the girls...I think I will sadly have to keep him confined to a cat crate inside the coop until he figures out the coop is his new home, and the girls get used to him- and then we can return to free-ranging.

....and does anyone know why I cannot post a picture? Every time I try to add a photo of my coop, it tells me I don't have permission.
 
I know its not "cruelty" but I still can't help but feel sad about what happened- it's a bit of a conundrum- we have the chickens as part of our landscape, and part of our life, and we enjoy them , and interact and appreciate their personalities and antics- and part of that is wanting them to have a good life, and free range, rather than remain locked up- but still, it is hard to accept brusquely and chalk it up to "life" when we lose a chicken. I am very familiar personally with the "Circle of Life" but some days it just feels cr@ppy anyway!
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A chicken tractor is a fabulous idea...unfortunately, my husband is maxed out on construction projects right now, and is tearing his hair out whilst tolerating my "pet projects"- my thoughts were to put an addition on the coop and extend the run, but that would be very time consuming at the moment- thus the inquiries as to adding a roo
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