Intoducing to the flock

[Fricasee]

I lost two chickens to a predator a couple of weeks ago.

As I was looking around on Facebook last week I saw an ad for free Polish roosters. I've always wanted a polish so I arranged to pick one up.

I put him in the brooder with food and water and everyone looked at eachother through the wire. It looked good so I tried to let him out the next day. He runs from one end of their run to the other and they have a large area. Wings drooping and beak open panting. Obviously stressed out. So I put him back in the brooder and then tried putting him to bed with them last night. My boyfriend said there was mayhem when he let them out of the coop this morning. I caught him and put him back in the brooder.

Boyfriend says he read somewhere that you have to keep them segregated for a week. I worry because my brooder isn't secure from predators.

Should I just bite my lip and leave him in there all the time for a week? He's pretty skinny along with being neurotic. Even my smallest hen chases him which results in him screaming and stomping around looking for safety.

I feel bad for bringing him into all of this the poor thing

 

[Frutfarm]

I tend to integrate mine slowly. Our coops are big enough to put a wire crate or chicken tractor inside(if I'm certain they aren't carriers for anything contagious). That way, they are able to see each other and they know that coop as home. I generally don't free them with the flock for at least a couple weeks. Longer, if they're younger or smaller to allow them the best chance to get a place in the pecking order.

 

[Frutfarm]

We also had a very large chicken tractor with a bunch of birds that we just kept inside the chicken yard, so same setup, just outside the coop. Then, we ended up shutting all the birds into the coop together when the younger birds were big enough to acclimate well. It took weeks because the older flock was more aggressive.

 

[lazy gardener]

More info please: how old is he? How old are the rest of your birds and how many?, what is the exact size of your coop and your run?

If he's young, introducing him to mature hens is going to be difficult. Generally, adding a mature roo to a flock of hens should go smoothly, but I'm guessing he's still a cockerel. It's very stressful to add a single youngster to an established flock. They won't enjoy having him around, and they will be sure to let him know that at every opportunity. So... go slow. give him lots of time to get settled. Do you ever free range your flock? If so, perhaps after giving him about a week to get settled, you could allow him and ONE or TWO of your bottom of pecking order gals out to free range together in late afternoon. In the mean time, you will need to do what ever it takes to ensure that he has a predator proof sleeping arrangement. That means: no openings that you could pass a quarter through. At the same time, you will need to ensure that he has adequate ventilation. When you do intoduce him, make sure he has plenty of hiding and multi level places: out of sight, yet without any dead ends where he could get trapped by an aggressor. Add an extra feed and water station. It's helpful to spread some scratch far and wide when introducing new birds.

As for a Polish being a flock protector: they are at a disadvantage due to their extra head feathers that block their vision. He may also be a target for being picked on by his flock members due to that Elvis look going on. Many birds don't like strangers who look different than they do.

 

[Fricasee]

More info please: how old is he? How old are the rest of your birds and how many?, what is the exact size of your coop and your run?

If he's young, introducing him to mature hens is going to be difficult. Generally, adding a mature roo to a flock of hens should go smoothly, but I'm guessing he's still a cockerel. It's very stressful to add a single youngster to an established flock. They won't enjoy having him around, and they will be sure to let him know that at every opportunity. So... go slow. give him lots of time to get settled. Do you ever free range your flock? If so, perhaps after giving him about a week to get settled, you could allow him and ONE or TWO of your bottom of pecking order gals out to free range together in late afternoon. In the mean time, you will need to do what ever it takes to ensure that he has a predator proof sleeping arrangement. That means: no openings that you could pass a quarter through. At the same time, you will need to ensure that he has adequate ventilation. When you do intoduce him, make sure he has plenty of hiding and multi level places: out of sight, yet without any dead ends where he could get trapped by an aggressor. Add an extra feed and water station. It's helpful to spread some scratch far and wide when introducing new birds.

As for a Polish being a flock protector: they are at a disadvantage due to their extra head feathers that block their vision. He may also be a target for being picked on by his flock members due to that Elvis look going on. Many birds don't like strangers who look different than they do.

Hi,
He is a young rooster, less than six months old. About the same age as my other rooster who is a rhode island red. I have six hens that are about two years old and 9 pullets that I raised from chicks this spring. The coop is two level at 7x7 or so for each level. There is an attached brooder that is about the same size. The open run is about 1200-1300 sq feet. I don't free range them as a habit because I'm renting my home and the landlord doesn't like them pooping on his porch. Occasionally one or two of them will hop the gate and cruise around nearby for short periods of time.

The netting in the brooder is chicken wire so I will have to replace that with hardware fabric I suppose. Putting him in the coop after bedtime has not been working because they all flip out in the morning when they wake up.
Poor guy. I like the suggestion of hiding places so I will get that taken care of. Some roosts out in the yard, and some shade structures because they were using the brooder for that and now that he's occupying it they only have the coop and the coop porch, plus some tall grasses along the fence for shade.

He has his own food and water in the brooder now, but I will get another set up going for when (hopefully) we can introduce him successfully.

The poor thing. He runs screaming like a teenage girl when they harass him. Even my smallest hen who is so quiet and shy gives him a hard time.

 

[Fricasee]

PS - I'm not concerned with him being a good flock protector. The other rooster is good at that. He shows his girlfriends where all the good bugs are too.

I got this polish from a family whose children raised them to show at the fair. They ordered them from a hatchery and ended up with seven roosters and chose to rehome the ones they didn't want. I took one. I'm worried I've made a mistake. Ugh.

 

[lazy gardener]

Do they sleep in BOTH levels of the coop? Pics would be helpful. If you already have a roo, I'd be deeply concerned that this Polish guy simply won't fit into your existing flock.

 

[Fricasee]

They do sleep in both levels. All the older hens and the RIR rooster sleep downstairs. All the pullets sleep upstairs.

Oh no! You think so? I had two roos before and they'd hackle up at eachother but never had any throw downs, but one slept downstairs with the hens and the other would sleep upstairs with the pullets. When he was killed the other one continued with his previous sleeping arrangements. I was hoping this new fellow would sleep with the pullets like the other rooster did.

 

[Fricasee]

Poor guy tried to go upstairs last night on his own and couldn't make it to the porch. He doesn't have the ramp figured out. It would be great if he could do it because the RIR roo won't go up there. It could be his safe haven.

 

[Frutfarm]

I think with slow integration he will work out-don't give up hope on that! We've introduced roosters with a really aggressive Buff Orpington rooster that was much older and bigger and with the slow integration it was a flawless introduction upon the new guy's release.