Introducing a rooster

[BabeMj]

How long have you had chicken? Roosters need a lot of experience and a lot of the cause a lot of problems.

I’ve had chickens for 5 years now. My dad grew up with roosters and chickens however but didn’t raise them but he is very comfortable handling them.

 

[21hens-incharge]

As to whether the large hens will mate with a bantam rooster....it's not a yes or no since each bird is an individual. They may or they may not.


Some roosters are respectful flock members some are giant problems.

I recommend doing a TON of research about roosters before adding one.

 

[MrsMeanGreen]

I have a full sized and bantam rooster. From experience the bantam rooster attempts to mate the full size hens, but it's comical and I doubt successful from what I have seen. My full size unfortunately prefers my smallest hen who is a petite wyandotte. While she is not bantam, she is definitely on the smaller size for large fowl. It causes a lot of wear and tear on her back and wings. I can't imagine having a bantam girl and what a full sized rooster would do to her.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi all I have 4 backyard chickens. A speckled Sussex, a buff, and 2 miniature (bantam) chickens. I was wondering if I would be able to introduce a rooster to this size flock or is it too little hen? Please let me know your thoughts.

There are stories on this forum where people have one rooster and only two or three hens without issues. There are stories where the one rooster has over 20 hens and there are still issues. Each situation is different. I can't tell you what will happen with yours.

Mature roosters are a much better choice than a cockerel. When they go through puberty and until they hit maturity the hormones often control them and they can injure and harass the hens through constant mating. Immature cockerels can also have flock dominance issues which can make them really rough. Don't choose an immature boy.

When they mate a hen squats. That gets her chest on the ground so the rooster's weight goes into the ground through her body instead of through her legs. That's nature's way to protect a hen against a rooster being bigger than her. However, the more difference there is in size (especially weight) between the hen and the rooster the more danger there is. Bantam chickens come in various sizes. Yours may be OK with a full sized rooster but I'd be very nervous about that. This is why I would not do it.

Some bantam roosters can mate with a full-sized hen, some cannot. Size is important and so is technique. You get no guarantees either way.

My goals are so different from yours it isn't even funny. It doesn't matter what I want, it matters what you want. I think you'd be taking a fairly big risk trying to get a rooster and mate her so you could hatch her chicks. My suggestion is that the next time she goes broody you get some fertile eggs for her to hatch or some baby chicks for her to adopt and raise. They may not be from her eggs but she won't care about that. They will still be her chicks.