Introducing an adult male

[PeaDaddy]

Because of the kerfluffle we experienced that most of you have read about, we took losing the two as an opportunity to introduce some new blood.

George and T.G. are 6 mos now. I found a hen who looks to be about a year. The seller told me she was 5 mos, and when we saw her, she is the largest 5 mos old bird I have ever seen, so I'm thinking she's older. We also bought a 3 mos old female. The 3 mos old came from the same flock as the year old, and "adopted" her as a mommy. The year old is "Angel", and the 3 mos old is "Ice Cream" (what happens when a 5 year old gets to name an animal...) George and T.G. have bullied them both, but Casa de Pea seems to be big enough for them all, and they're getting it sorted out.

We are picking up "Patches", a 5 year old Silver Pied, and his 5 year old girlfriend, a bronze who has no name as of yet. I've got the 2nd coop set up to house those two initially.

So, the question is, how long do I wait to integrate them all? I'm not interested in keeping everyone separated, but I'm not trying to get anyone killed either. Is there a preferred method to facilitate harmony?

With horses, we group everyone by age, and put them in stalls based on age. That's not really an option here. At some point down the road, everyone will be turned out together, and will roost in the coops.

 

[Mmmaddie13]

All my babies are this years' hatch, and about 3 weeks ago I bought a six year old male, introduced him the night I brought him home, and they're all good. It helped that my new guy was outnumbered I think, but for the most part there hasn't been any fighting, just a few stern pecks here and there if the little ones get too rowdy. I'm not experienced by all means, but I thought my input might help. Good luck!

 

[PeaDaddy]

Excellent. Thanks. I was thinking that the adults would bring order to the roost. In Africa, there were some young elephants that were removed from their herds and relocated. All of them were "teenagers" and when they got to their new home, they ran amok. They tore up trees, fields of rice, were aggressive towards people, and were just behaving poorly. They brought in some adults, and within a couple of weeks, order was restored.

I'm thinking that if my 6 mos olds have some adult supervision, they won't be such bullies.

 

[Frosty]

I would keep them seperated for about a month to make sure they are healthy, and worm them while they are seperate. I introduced a 5 year old pair and their baby from this year to my flock, they are currently all in with my chickens. The move went smoothly with no fighting at all. In my experience, they don't appear to be as aggressive to new comers as chickens (or horses) are. Make sure you post pics for us! Bronze and/or Opal are at the top of my wish list...