Illinois...

[MeepBeep]

Birds cannot be persuaded to accept new birds.  You can introduce a rooster to a flock of hens, no problem.  You can introduce several roosters that have been raised together into an existing flock of layers. I have done this several times before without fights, and I will be introducing three 5 month old roosters to live with my 7 layers in about a week, after butchering 11 of their brothers.  You can combine two flocks of hens if you rebuild the flock one at a time to create a new flock.
You do this any other way and birds can kill each other.  It really helps to do some reading on this site, because that's where I learned this.

I have never had problems introducing any variety or number of birds to my flock, be them roosters or hens... I believe a lot of aggression towards new birds is caused by lack of space and/or places they can seclude themselves in the coop or run...

For me I just sneak the new birds out at night and put them on the roost, come morning there is a little "What the bleep, who is that?" curiosity but that is short as they all are more interested in running to get food and water...

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Birds cannot be persuaded to accept new birds. You can introduce a rooster to a flock of hens, no problem. You can introduce several roosters that have been raised together into an existing flock of layers. I have done this several times before without fights, and I will be introducing three 5 month old roosters to live with my 7 layers in about a week, after butchering 11 of their brothers. You can combine two flocks of hens if you rebuild the flock one at a time to create a new flock.
You do this any other way and birds can kill each other. It really helps to do some reading on this site, because that's where I learned this.

In my case, I didn't have a rooster prior to my 4 that all hatched close together. Just they all matured at different times. Since my bantam cochin was the first to mature, he had his favorite girls. But 2 months later my SL Orpington (who was the last to mature) decided he wanted my bantam cochins ladies. My bantam tried putting him in his place, but I broke up the fight. This issue has been resolved and the roos are back to normal.

Junibutt had an existing Roo, but then hatched or received some day olds.

The problem seems to be, the young roos hormones. And since there are 4 of them in my case and 3 in Junibutt's case, their hormones and group tactics are causing some problems. There isn't any fighting between them, just ciaos.

 

[Junibutt]

Separation is a good thing as it resets them to the bottom of the pecking order, and their raging 'teenage' hormones generally calm down after a few months...
While you are in the coop grab one of the trouble makers by their legs and hang them upside down while you do your things or just walk around the coop with them hanging upside down for about 15 minutes, in my experience most rooster seem to calm down after this and the others take note... And don't be shy about letting the other chickens take some pecks at the helpless dangling rooster at least within basic pecking order type of pecks... I find this works best as a means to reassert you into the dominate position but it also calms them down overall once they are 'shamed' like this...
I have found yes generally it passes as they mature and the hormones balance out, but not always some roosters just love to strut their stuff, bully everyone and try to breed anything that they can catch... I can always tell those roosters in my coop as the guinea fowl will have nothing of that type of behavior and pluck every tail feather from those frisky roosters...

Happy New Year Juni!

I would separate them from the main flock. It sounds like they are disrupting everyone and that is not good. They can stay together in one coop if your set-up allows enough room for them, otherwise put them in individual cages. Like @MeepBeep said, they will mellow with age but how much depends on the individual personality. Your Legbar rooster is/was probably run-ragged trying to keep the three of them in line. When I see this happening in my flock, I remove all the youngsters except the one/two that I may keep. The others go into the bachelor pad until I see how the ones I left with the flock are maturing. You did not mention if the Legbar and three trouble makers are all the males you have. If you are keeping all of them for breeding purposes, you will need to separate breeders into pens anyway so . If you don't need all of them, rehome whoever doesn't fit your plans.

Thanks for the great advice. I plan on separating them after the 5 day cold spell that starts Sunday. As @ChicagoClucker mentioned, all I have is 4 roosters, the 3 younger ones were hatched or received as day olds. Their is no infighting between them, they are just not being nice to the girls and challenging the elder rooster. My son actually shuts them in the garage section of the coop every night so that neighbors don't complain, so at least they are used to being held and not aggressive towards him or myself.

Meanwhile, there is a temporary calming down in the coop and believe it or not, its a ladder I placed in the coop to help them get in and out of the garage section of the coop (which is about 3 ft high). Apparently negotiating the ladder is not their forte (probably because of their size) and the first day I opened the door to the garage, they did not come out all day because they could not figure out how to come down that ladder and consequently now it seems like its intimidating them just by being there. Meanwhile the pullets and hens are going around their business.

I love these Orpingtons but now I am completely convinced that they have lost their intelligence somewhere. But works for me at the moment. lol

I'm seeing the opposite with my orp roos. I still have both because they're still getting along. My former roos both got a horomone surge between age 8-12 mo, so I've done the upside down humiliation technique when they needed to learn their place. ("So look at the big tough rooster now" as I dangle him before the hens.) Our 1st Roo was too loud & over-mated the hens, 2nd Roo was a gentleman toward his girls but very unpredictable around people.

I was advised to keep our current boys until they hit maturity to see which one was better. I kept going back & forth as they grew into a responsible protection team. (One will guide the majority of the hens to safety & guard the door, while the other rounds up the stragglers.) Next week they will be 9 mo old & still no fighting. Because they started crowing (& mating) at 3.5 months old, I put them to bed in the garage each night. That way they can crow away & no neighbors will hear them. I carry them back to the coop every morning after 8am. Thankfully they're docile so I have one under each arm with their legs dangling. When they 1st see the hens, there's some chasing & mating (after all, they had to go all night without). If a hen declines, she often runs to my feet, & the roo stops his pursuit. In less than 5 min, things settle back to normal.

I'm not sure if my nightly garage cage is good or bad. I keep the boys together 24/7. I also don't know if that's the reason they're still so sweet. They're not snugglers (I have hens for that) but they will take treats from my hand & allow me touch them. They never squiggle when being held nor try to stand their ground. I never had to hold either one upside down. I keep waiting for that 1st peck or raised hackles. Could it be that they're calm because there's 2 instead of one? My former roos took about 6 months before mating began, but my current roos started mating the adult hens at age 14 weeks.(They left the pullets of same age alone. LOL) Could their hormone surge still be on it's way?

I think your handling them everyday is helping keep them calm.

Hi Junibutt, I am following your post because I am in a similar situation. Hope Marco is Ok. My Al seemed to be the trouble maker of the group, because he was the last to mature. I did have a problem with him and Mick my bantam fighting. Which Mick had no chance over Al a large Orp. But since then they have calmed down. Al is still not a gentleman with the ladies, and once in a while it seems like the put their sites on 1 hen and its a chase. Really thinking about setting up those breeding pens as soon as possible to lessen the stress for the girls and calm these boys down.

I will keep you posted as always

 

[Pixie]

NOOB Question (please forgive me)

What month in the spring in have you noticed that the hens start laying more compared to the winter months?

I have pullets that are still not at POL and the ones I do have can't keep up with my egg requests. (I actually debated on purchasing some at the store for our own use because everything that we have from the barn are spoken for!)

Is it more when the weather gets warmer or the daylight. I have been supplementing the daylight in the coop but it seems the cold has been the deciding factor over a dozen/day vs 6/day.

In Illinois the temps are so wacky at times, I was trying to come up with a date that actually panned out so I can tell people when the wait list "should" be over.

 

[MeeMa Brown]

Anyone prepared for the next weeks cold snap? We're putting 3 ml plastic up sides of run on exposed sides of north and west to keep floor dry but clear so sun shines in. Put light /heat on under water unit. What about you?

 

[jerryse]

NOOB Question (please forgive me)

What month in the spring in have you noticed that the hens start laying more compared to the winter months?

I have pullets that are still not at POL and the ones I do have can't keep up with my egg requests. (I actually debated on purchasing some at the store for our own use because everything that we have from the barn are spoken for!)

Is it more when the weather gets warmer or the daylight. I have been supplementing the daylight in the coop but it seems the cold has been the deciding factor over a dozen/day vs 6/day.

In Illinois the temps are so wacky at times, I was trying to come up with a date that actually panned out so I can tell people when the wait list "should" be over.

March ! By late March they will be near full production . Light is the main thing but weather can hinder production . Too cold or too hot stresses them .

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Loving my bantam cochins! I ended up with 3 pullets. 2 blue mottled and 1 black mottled, 1 very lightly mottled black cockerel. . And my SL cochin bantam, Minnie is just adorable. I have been having a hard time staying away from the incubator, since she began laying. I keep putting her eggs in a bowl on the counter, just in case, I have the uncontrollable urge to start the incubator. I think my husband suspects something, cause he says, why don't you just hard boil those little eggs in the bowl. They are the perfect snack size.

 

[Junibutt]

Anyone prepared for the next weeks cold snap? We're putting 3 ml plastic up sides of run on exposed sides of north and west to keep floor dry but clear so sun shines in. Put light /heat on under water unit. What about you?

I covered the main coop with plastic earlier today only leaving a small 2 x 4 inch whole on top for ventilation. However I know there are many slits that can let in draft. Hoping it won't be that cold tomorrow morning and I could fix that.

Planning on covering the run with plastic sheets at least on one side. But on colder days, I am probably not even going to open their door to the run.

Meanwhile heated water has been placed inside the elevated garage section of the coop. The problem is my Orpingtons don't know how to get in there. All others go in & out freely. Not sure what to do. Certainly don't want to place any water in the main coop for fear of spilling. I am thinking of placing a bucket of snow in there. What do you guys think?

 

[Faraday40]

Loving my bantam cochins! I ended up with 3 pullets. 2 blue mottled and 1 black mottled, 1 very lightly mottled black cockerel. . And my SL cochin bantam, Minnie is just adorable. I have been having a hard time staying away from the incubator, since she began laying. I keep putting her eggs in a bowl on the counter, just in case, I have the uncontrollable urge to start the incubator. I think my husband suspects something, cause he says, why don't you just hard boil those little eggs in the bowl. They are the perfect snack size.

I honestly agree with both you & your husband.
Those little bantam eggs are the perfect snack size. My kids pack them in their lunches. (I draw faces or write love messages on them so we can tell that they are hard boiled.)

Of course your little cochins are adorable.. I may have to get one someday.

Because I do not have a bantam rooster, I'll never be able to hatch Cookie's little eggs. The roos prefer the bigger girls, so my 2 bantams are considered more of a nuisance by them. Once I did see Prince wait patiently for Trouble to enter the run, so it was nice to see that his protection extends to the bantams. Prince is a good boy & never leaves a hen behind - even the annoying one. (The other roo pretty much ignores Trouble but is excellent with all the others.)

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Anyone prepared for the next weeks cold snap? We're putting 3 ml plastic up sides of run on exposed sides of north and west to keep floor dry but clear so sun shines in. Put light /heat on under water unit. What about you?

I already have their main enclosed run covered in opaque plastic except for the 2x2 opening, which I closed up with plastic last night. And I cleaned out their coop yesterday and added all the soiled bedding into the run to help insulate the ground in the run better, then added lots of fresh bedding for the coop. I need to pull out their heated water dish today. I left a bowl of water in the coop last nite, to see how cold it would get in there, and it wasn't frozen over. I need to find my thermostat that I had in the old run.

I switched to pine shavings instead of the straw when I moved them to this new coop to help with keeping the mice population down. Which seems to have worked, but not happy with how it just compacts when soiled. I turn it and in 2 days it all compacted again. I am really missing the straw this winter, but not the mice.