How to move our cockerel

[ClickityChick123]

Hi everyone, we have an eighteen week old cockerel that we need to move because he is getting quite noisy and the neighborhood doesn't allow roosters. We dropped him of at our cousins who have chickens, hoping that that would be a good forever home for him. We came back a little later to check on him and he was bleeding from multiple wounds, and the hens were still attacking him, not even the rooster, the hens! So we brought the poor guy home and are just wondering how we can put them together and have less (if any) blood shed. Thank you!

 

[krogen]

I’d keep him in a cage, separated from the hens for a week or so.

Even if the hens didn’t attack him, it would be a good idea to keep him in there for a while so he won’t run away.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You can't just add a new chicken into a strange flock. There has to be a process called integration. I've written an article on it with pictures plus there's another article I recommend. It's also a good idea to quarantine new birds for a few weeks unless you're sure they're healthy and free of lice and mites but in your case you probably don't need to worry about it.

This is my article on Integrating:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-a-pictorial-guide.79343/

And here is another excellent article on integrating flocks:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-chickens-step-by-step.72815/

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Be especially careful since they already have a rooster as well. Cockfighting is probably not a sport you intend to get involved in . I don’t think adding a lone chicken is easy let alone a lone cockerel to an established flock with a rooster. It would be better to find him his own flock.

 

[ClickityChick123]

Be especially careful since they already have a rooster as well. Cockfighting is probably not a sport you intend to get involved in . I don’t think adding a lone chicken is easy let alone a lone cockerel to an established flock with a rooster. It would be better to find him his own flock.

Thank you so much! I'm not sure I know of anyone that is allowed to have a rooster that doesn't already have one, but I'll look!
P.S. If he's about 18 weeks, should we start seeing some fertile eggs soon, if not now?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Thank you so much! I'm not sure I know of anyone that is allowed to have a rooster that doesn't already have one, but I'll look!
P.S. If he's about 18 weeks, should we start seeing some fertile eggs soon, if not now?

Is he mounting the hens?

 

[ClickityChick123]

Well...I mean he tries, but most the time he tries they just attack him.