How to introduce new rooster

[albinosilver]

I’m having a lot of trouble introducing a new rooster into my flock of only hens.

I had an old rooster that was hyper aggressive. All of my hens had bald patches and he was especially aggressive towards one hen in particular and almost killed her. I opted to give him away and replace him with a new rooster. Once the old rooster was gone, my top hens battled it out for several days before calming down again. All their feathers have grown back now and everyone gets along great.

I have 2 youngsters I had raised in a pen beside the main flock. They’re clutch mates. One hen, one rooster. The hen just laid her first egg this week and has laid 2 so far. The rooster has been crowing and mating with the hen. He is very gentle and calm compared to the old rooster.

I really want to introduce them to the main flock but so far it’s always gone terribly. The new hen is more or less accepted. The old hens will push her around a bit but don’t really pick at her. But as soon as the new rooster gets near, all hell breaks loose and the old hens all gang up on him. He was in with them for all of 5 minutes and the side of his head was picked bloody. He doesn’t at all try to defend himself. So I put him and his clutchmate back into their own pen.

I’m almost regretting getting rid of the old rooster. At least he was accepted into the flock and kept things in-order :/

What should I do? I’m thinking of giving the new rooster more time to “mature” or maybe he’s just too docile and my hens are too aggressive. Should I just try with another rooster? Please help

 

[TheTwoRoos]

What’s your chickens breeds?

Best to let him mature more.The next time you introduce them,take one hen and sit here in his cage,remove her after they have fought and etc and replace with another.

 

[albinosilver]

They are all the same breed. I’m not completely sure. The new rooster is a little bit smaller than usual though. Some of the big hens are quite a bit bigger than him.

Ok I will give him a week or so to recover and then introduce the old hens one by one. The thing is he doesn’t fight at all. When an old hen comes to pick at him he just runs away or stands there and takes it.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

That’s why you need to give him time to mature,is he breeding?

 

[albinosilver]

That’s why you need to give him time to mature,is he breeding?

He is breeding with his clutchmate and tries to at first with some of the old hens but then they peck him and he runs away. I would think he is mature enough already. The old rooster was very dominant at his age.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Yes,give him soemtiem,maybe another month homestly to refresh.Then retry introduction.The chasing him away is a good thing.They will teach him how to properly be a man.

 

[albinosilver]

Yes,give him soemtiem,maybe another month homestly to refresh.Then retry introduction.The chasing him away is a good thing.They will teach him how to properly be a man.

What about the other hen that is his clutchmate? Should I keep them together or should I introduce her first to the rest of the flock? I just don’t want him to be lonely either if I took her away.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

I would introduce them together,put one grown hen in one by oen,basically giving them the upper hand to team tag the hen,sounds cruel,but your hens sound quite rough,I personally would let them team tag,and work order out.Sometimes birds need knocked down a level to get put in their place.

 

[albinosilver]

@TheTwoRoos

Ok so my hens are absolutely INSANE. I had someone come to me looking to rehome 2 young roosters so I thought I'd take them in to see if maybe one of them would be a better fit in my flock. The guy came to drop them off while I was at work and I had told him to put them in with my 2 other youngsters. Well I came home today and the 2 roosters were actually left in the main pen and were basically DEAD. Completely plucked and bloodied. This is crazy. I've never heard of such vicious hens before..

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Goodness,that is why you have to momiter introduction and why lots o gorilla introduce through a cage.Let them heal then reintroduce to your other birds and get to know them,that is the unfortunate thing about keeping chickens,they can be so darn mean.