Introducing a young roo to an established flock of hens

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All things chickens

In the Brooder
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Hi everyone! I’m new to BYC but have had my flock of hens for about 7 yrs now. I’ve lost and added precious girls to my flock, but never had a roo. Last week my daughter gave me a roo that she got with new chicks this spring. He’s 18 weeks old and adorable, but my older girls are NOT having it. I partitioned off a section of the run so they can’t get to him, but 3 of my older girls fight him through the wire. Will they ever accept him? He’s very sweet natured, but defends himself through the wire.
 
welcome to BYC! i’ve had similar situations with my old duck ladies and a new drake., fighting through the fence . when i finally let them together they had a couple of fights to see who was gonna be boss. but then they ‘mostly’ got along . all except for one tough old lady duck who would never accept him. i ended up rehoming the drake 🥺 oh, now, maybe with chickens it will be different?
 
All things chickens said:
Hi everyone! I’m new to BYC but have had my flock of hens for about 7 yrs now. I’ve lost and added precious girls to my flock, but never had a roo. Last week my daughter gave me a roo that she got with new chicks this spring. He’s 18 weeks old and adorable, but my older girls are NOT having it. I partitioned off a section of the run so they can’t get to him, but 3 of my older girls fight him through the wire. Will they ever accept him? He’s very sweet natured, but defends himself through the wire.
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Welcome to BYC! I'd give him a little more time and growing with the girls. It'll be harder since you're merging a young cockerel with a much older flock, but they may take him once he gets a little older, I'm not 100% sure..
 
Jenbirdee said:
welcome to BYC! i’ve had similar situations with my old duck ladies and a new drake., fighting through the fence . when i finally let them together they had a couple of fights to see who was gonna be boss. but then they ‘mostly’ got along . all except for one tough old lady duck who would never accept him. i ended up rehoming the drake 🥺 oh, now, maybe with chickens it will be different?
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Hi Jenbirdee! I’m hoping they get used to him, but 3 of my older girls are very unhappy lol. I tried letting him free range with them yesterday, but those 3 pick on him, fight him. The others seem ok with him, but these are my oldest girls. He defended himself at first, but then just started running away from them. I was hoping he’d stand up to them and put them in their place, and thought he would at first, but now I’m worried he won’t. Maybe it’s because he’s so young, he isn’t even crowing yet.
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow

The adults see him as an immature teenager right now. :lol: They won't except him until he is 6 or 7+ months old. So for now, I would keep him separate from the adults until he's grown more.

Welcome to our community!
 
Welcome to BYC. @TwoCrows has given great advice. Some dominant hens will never readily accept a cockerel/rooster. This can lead to more problems causing a need to separate them from the flock for their safety once the rooster becomes dominant.
 

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