i'm getting a new roo, advice?

[sdshoars]

my dh is going to bring home a pretty BO cockeral this afternoon, from the goat stud's house, and i was wondering if anyone has advice for me? i think he is around 15 weeks old, and my ladies are 22 weeks, but he is right around the same size as him. i was planning on keeping him in the goat pen for a couple of days, so they can see each other while the ladies free range, is that all i need to do? and i dont need to quaranteen (sp?) him, i know the lady very well, and her birds are all super healthy. that little roo is so gorgeous, and now i will have eggs i can test in my bator! yay!

 

[HennyPennies2007]

I would quarantine him for 4 weeks just to be safe.

 

[HennyPennies2007]

P.S. Congratulations... BOs are cool!

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
Ditto. Just keep him apart and keep an eye out on his health while he adjusts to the new setting. No need to medicate with anything, just keep an eye out for health any any bugs like lice.

 

[Wildsky]

If he will be living with goats, make sure the goats can't get to his food.

Congrats!

 

[horsejody]

Even healthy birds can bring disease. Their immune systems adjust to their environment. There may have been viruses or bacteria at her place that he has an immunity to that your birds may be susceptible to. And your birds may be harboring viruses or bacteria he doesn't have immunity to.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

I would not put him with the goats. They are a breeding gound of parasites and they do not care where they put their waste. I am sorry, I think goats are nasty. The one thing they are good for is deforaging land. This of course is just my opinion, i do not mean to flame in any way. i just do not like goats.

 

[chickenpiedpiper]

Since you stated that you trust the seller, and you want advice on introducing the birds, here is what we did.

We got our first roo as a rescue, and our ladies had never been around one. An old timer had told us to put him in the coop with the ladies at night, when everyone was quiet. so we did. Cold Turkey just like that! Well, it was all fine. Next morning everybody woke up, and when we let them out he stayed with the ladies and has been our champion ever since.

We have since introduced every bird that way, at night, and let them all wake up together. we have had no problems at all with this method.

Good luck!

 

[sdshoars]

yes, i know, to not let the goats get to the chickens feed, we have an elevated box, with a hole only big enough for a chicken to go in, and the feed gets placed at the very back of the box, and the goats can not get into it. we built this specifically for the purpose of keeping a chicken seperated from the group if we needed to.

and wow rimshoes, you really must not like goats, but that does NOT mean they are a breeding ground for parasites! i live in the desert, we get three inches of rain per year, and that means NO parasites. nothing. they do not have enough moisture to survive. so my goats have none. we dont even get fleas and ticks. and they are good for much more than deforaging, they provide lots of milk, meat kids, and love. sorry you don't like them, and you say you dont mean to flame, but it seems that way to me!

 

[Southernbelle]

If he will be your only rooster, then his transition should be really easy! Once his quarantine is up, just toss him in. That's what I did when we got our roo, he's the natural leader, so no one bothered him. The best part was he kept the peace between the hens - one of the dominant hens would pick on the youngest one and he put a stop to that right away. I felt a lot better about my flock knowing he was out there.