integrating a rooster

[newchicks]

I have 2 grown hens and someone dropped a rooster off in my barn. If I were to keep him how do I integrate him so as to make it easy for my girls?

 

[michickenwrangler]

We put our roo in a large hutch next to the chicken run on advice from the woman we bought him from. He and the hens could look at one another and cluck to each other beforehand. We also let the hens out to free range for a few hours in the evening and they came for a closer look. After 3 nights we put Fred in with the hens.

There was quite a bit of pecking and puffed feathers for the first day and a half but they worked it out. If you have all girls and no boys, the hens might be glad to have a masculine presence.

Our rooster is older and quieter than our hens so he kind of looks like the chaperone at a high school dance with all these giggly, noisy girls running around.

Good luck!