Introducing a new Roo

[meckler]

I have 18 chickens. 12 are older girls and are in their own coop. 6 are about 8 months old and are in their own smaller coop. I recently tried to introduce my new Roo, Steve (A Silkie - my girls are all average size) to my flock. I put him into the coop with the younger hens when they went to sleep. They woke up and he had no problems fitting in.

When I left my girls out to free range, my older girls didn't like Steve so much. They ganged up on him and it was one after the other taking shots at him. He held his ground and gave it back, but when his comb got a bit of blood on it, my hubby separated them and put Steve back in the run of the smaller coop.

So now, I need some advice. Do I keep trying to let him out and see how they react? Do I slowly introduce each of my older girls to Steve? Or, do I sneak him into the larger coop at night and see how that pans out?

I'd appreciate any advice at this point. This is our first Roo and Steve is such a sweetie, I really want this to go well.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would keep doing what you did, Steve can handle a bit of blood on his comb. Put him out and pull him if it gets rough, always keep him penned where everyone can see him, it can help for them to get used to seeing him. I have actually kept young roosters in my separation pen for a few months, and when let out there's no fighting even from older roosters, all has been worked out through the fence.

 

[Ciqala]

I added an adult silkie rooster to my flock about a year and a half ago, he was the only silkie and he went into a flock of 18 hens, all bigger than him the poor guy. After letting the girls see him while he was safely behind fencing, I put them together. Honestly, he looked like a bull fighter dodging the girls. He stood up for himself, never fought them back and stood his ground. I didn't remove him, just supervised from outside the run. The girls did settle down rather quickly, a couple of days at most. They accepted him a lot quicker than hens I've introduced, or even re-introduced. It did take 2-3 weeks before they'd accept mating from him. You know, the hen that gave him the most trouble with fighting when I put him in there is his right hand, head hen and has been since that day.

I hate introducing new chickens to the flock, it's always "ugly" with the fighting and it's hard to just sit back and let it all play out. But they've got to work it out on their own, and they will. A little nick on a comb will bleed a lot. My advice is just put him in there, keep an eye on things and let them work out the pecking order, it's never pretty. Best of luck to you and Stevie.