Intoducing a Rooster

[chefdkluke]

Hello all,
I have four hens, all about 6 months. I'm trying to introduce a rooster, just over 3 months. One of my hens (the biggest one) is bullying the new guy like crazy. How long will this go on before they get used to each other? Is there anything I can do to help them adjust? For now she chases him into the hen house while the girls stay out in the run.

 

[math ace]

Is he smaller than her?

If he is smaller than her, it will go on until he gets bigger.
She could still harm him if she really wants to be nasty.

When he does get bigger - - - he will need more than 4 hens to keep him busy.
Your girls may get stressed out and quit laying, not to mention having their feathers ripped out.
Start thinking about getting MORE HENS - - - you will need another 4 ( total of around 8) to keep him satisfied without wearing the girls out.

 

[chefdkluke]

He is bigger than she is, by quite a bit, but she's a pretty hard core lady. I think she is being territorial, since it's the first day, but hopefully she'll settle down. He has actually been pretty calm towards the others. I will definitely look into some more girls to keep him entertained. Thanks for the response!

 

[mackak]

Hi, I have a related question.........I have a beautiful 15 month old japanese bantam rooster. I have an opportunity to get 2 japanese bantam hens who are only 2 -3 months old. Does anyone know if I can gradually put them together ? He has never had any girls to take care of and I would love to breed him ( he is quite handsome). I am wondering if he had his own girls would his natural instincts to look after them kick in or is he too old and set in his ways? I am beginning my second year of living with chickens and am completely in love with them.

Mom to 5 polish, 2 wyandottes, 1 silkie, 2 cochin hens, 1 fiesty, round frizzle bantam cochin rooster, 2 barred rocks, 1 bantam brahma, 1 rosecomb, 1 austrolorp and 1 japanese bantam rooster

 

[dawg53]

math ace is absolutely correct. I've seen the eventual 'beat down' a rooster will do to hens once he gets used to them in the same area, injuries to the hens can be bad as well. mackak, yes you can gradually introduce hens to your rooster. But the same thing will happen as math ace stated unless you get more hens. BTW: Before you introduce new hens, practice biosecurity and keep the newbies seperated from the others for at least 30 days....You dont want to introduce possible "nasty" things to your existing flocks.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
I am surprised that he is bigger than her and letting her get away with it - - - - BUT He is VERY VERY Young and has probably not developed his territorial urges yet and is still in submissive mode. By the time he turns 4 months- - - He should be feeling his OATS and be willing to take on anything that trys to challenege him.

Today was only day one - - - you may see him defend himself in a day or so. However, he is so very young - - - I think it may take a little longer. In the meantime, you need to make sure that hen does not harm him. As soon as he starts defending himself - - - he will be mounting every hen in site. He will not be very good at it in the beginning and the girls will suffer for it - - - messed up combs and LOTS of missing feathers as he figures out his technique. This will take another 1 - 2 months.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
Do you have children ? ? (Trust me - - I am going somewhere with this question )

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
At 15 months he may be mature enough to be over the "teenage boy syndrome". While I`m sure that the guys are correct when they relate experiences with roosters "beating down" hens and causing damage because of to few playmates for the boy, a mature cock will be very good with the young ladies most of the time, even if they are few. My passion is gamefowl and, because of the nature of the beast, my cocks are penned with no more than 1 or 2 hens and I have never experienced any problems with overbreeding. It`s the young ones, under a year, that sometimes cannot get enough, although there must be exceptions. As I said, he may be mature enough to handle himself well and tolerate the temptation until the girls are laying age. I would give it a go and hope for the best as it sounds like a great trio. Good luck........Pop

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Your new boy just needs to mature a little before he can take his place as leader of the flock. He`s still a baby and as a stranger, the older girls resent his presence. The guys could be correct about the hen rooster ratio, but I have never experienced that with my gamefowl. Time will tell in your situation. Here`s a little story for you.

As I was telling mackak in the above post, my passion is gamefowl. After they reach adolescence, the guys have to be penned alone or with a hen. I came by some full grown Americana hens and the largest of the 4 was black and mean to the other 3. I put her into a pen occupied only by a 5 month old Spanish Game stag. She was a big girl and about 5 1/2 lbs and he was young and around 3 lbs. She beat the stuffing out of him and his refuge was the roost. This went on for a couple months.

I was in the chicken yard feeding one day and happened to notice he was on the ground. She jumped him as usual, but instead of flying to the roost, he stood his ground. As the battle emerged, I could actually see the anger building in him. They fought for a good 10 minutes, while I watched. She was sure he would run and all the "run" had left him and he was becoming a man. Finally, she ran. He chased her around the pen and she took refuge in the nest box. He fumed and paced and finally cooled down enough to leave her and eat. Never had another squabble, ever.

As long as your boy has room to escape, he will be fine and learn to deal with their aggression. Give him some time and he`ll be what you want him to be..........Pop

 

[chefdkluke]

Quote:
Do you have children ? ? (Trust me - - I am going somewhere with this question )

I do have one little boy...