Introducing a Roo

[NoSkiveez]

I hope this is the right section to ask. I have 25 chickens in two different pens. One is a pen we built for the small chicks and I have 12 bigger chickens, 7 of them I got at a feed store and were all hens (one turned in to a rooster) and I got 4 more from a person locally and they were 3 hens 1 roo. Everyone got along great. Still does. They were all hatched around the first week on Nov 09. Today I drove out to Phoenix and picked up a young leghorn rooster who was hatched in Dec 09. The previous owner wasnt able to be more specific. He's a bit smaller than the others we have. When I got home the intent was to take him out of the box he rode home in and put him in a large dog crate to spend the night and get introduced tomorrow. I thought maybe it would be better for him to go in the crate so that he could be in the coop and the others could get used to him before turning him loose. I really didnt want him getting beat up. I brought in some food and water dishes for him and that little snot managed to slip out of the crate and get loose in the coop. One of the roosters we already had fluffed all up and was checking him out but not fighting. But that didnt last long. Our rooster went after him and he took off running. Our rooster did catch him and started trying to damage his comb (FYI-Screaming at the rooster does nothing to stop this behavior!). I was able to seperate the two and hold one while my son cornered the leghorn and caught him. Neither were hurt. I was told that introducing them this way (letting one stay in the crate before getting released) was the proper way to do it.

Is there another way to do this that might produce better results?

 

[gritsar]

Never having had to deal with integration issues before, I'm giving you a bump.

 

[NoSkiveez]

Thanks.

I have been keeping him seperated inside the coop in a giant dog crate, taking turns letting him out and putting the other two boys in. He is getting along with the girls really well but I am hesitant to introduce him to the two boys. Worst case my husband will build a new area for him.

 

[chickletranch]

You are doing the right thing. I have integrated all new birds by separating them for safety, while keeping them visible to the rest of the flock. Still, if you already have 2 roosters, the odds are good that the new roo will be "low man" and will be picked on for approaching any of the hens. The other roos already see the hens as "theirs". You may need to create a third pen for the new guy, and give him a few hens as companions. We have 5 roosters (who free range) and they are constantly vying for "top roo" status. Fortunately, they all know that I am really the top roo! I make a habit of picking them up and handling them often.

Best of luck,
Lynn

 

[NoSkiveez]

We've pretty much come to the conclusion we will have to build a pen area for him. We are looking at our options for building a place for him. We dont want to risk him getting hurt. He is so much smaller than all the others. The more dominant rooster has a strong dislike towards him and puffs all up when he makes any noise or when the other hens get near the crate. We talked about getting him a couple leghorn girls too. The leghorn we already have seems to have taken a liking to him already.

 

[chickletranch]

I'd say that's normal. Most of our roosters will "puff up" when another approaches. It's funny how the hens will gravitate towards one or the other rooster. We have a rooster, Nemo, who will not range with the rest of the flock in the front of the property. He had a bad respiratory infection and thereafter would run to the sheep shed on the back acre when the coop was opened every morning. I guess he didn't feel strong enough to hold his own with the other roos. He was back there every day by himself until we brought in some new chicks. Now, he has his own little flock of 3 girlfriends who hang with him in the back.

Best,
Lynn

 

[NoSkiveez]

Quote:
Would he be able to be placed in with younger chicks? I have 5 silkies (Mid Dec 09 hatch), 5 Delawares (1 is a roo) and 2 Gold Laced Wyandottes. The delawares and Wyandottes are late Dec 09 hatches. These chicks are all in a seperate pen within the coop.

 

[Mahonri]

I just want to know what you did to get a hen to turn into a rooster. I want to avoid that.

 

[smarsh2]

Most would tell you to quarantine the new bird to make sure he isn't bringing in any desease.

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

I'm pretty sure you have to quarentine any new birds for about a month before they can be with any of your other chickens. Even though he might look healthy he could have some hidden bacteria or sickness or 'belly bugs(worms, coccidia, etc)' and you def wouldn't want to infect your birds if there was the slight chance he had something. and also that would give all the other birds including the roo's time to see him but not be able to fight or pick on him too much! I'm getting a new roo soon and have a dog crate and an enclosed separate run waiting for him! hope this helped!

edited to add: I was typing while the above post was posted!!

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