Introducing pullets to an existing flock with a rooster

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. This link may be useful - Flock integration

 

[chrissynemetz]

Welcome to BYC! My roosters don't bother with the pullets too much, they leave it to the hens to work out. Good luck with your integration!

 

[Davethebirdman]

Hi everyone this is going on year 2 now for us with chickens. We started with just chickens and well then came the ducks. Now we have a rooster. The girls (laying hens) took to Gary right away. Hes very confused as to why ducks are apart of his flock but he watches them and herds them to bed too. Hes a good boy. We haven't had him very long so I'm not sure how introductions are going to go. We attempted to introduce 4 pullets this past fall and were semi successful. The big girls took the the littles ok. They were still trying to reestablish pecking order when we lost them to a raccoon attack. So this is our 1st real go around with introductions as the last time we didn't get to finish that process. Last time we didn't have the rooster, Gary, to worry about. Now we do. Anyone have any tips or tricks about introductions? Anything to keep a close eye on? Gary is sexually mature and mating our laying hens. Currently the pullets are still chicks so we have time yet. But not much as they're 6-7 weeks old. Lasttime we put the littles in a grow up pen for about 2 so they could see and smell the bigger girls but the big girls couldn't hurt them. Thanks in advance.

You’ll have better luck introducing new hens to a flock if you have a rooster around. He won’t put up with much nonsense. They are hard wired to keep order in the flock. That’s what they are there for.

 

[N F C]

Thanks for joining!

 

[CHlCKEN]

Welcome to BYC! This awesome community of poultry keepers and experts will be very excited to jump in and answer whatever questions you may have.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[sourland]

Hello, and welcome to BYC. Generally there is more problems with the flock hens than the rooster when introducing new birds. Most roosters tend to ignore pullets and chicks and may actually stop the hens from fighting them.

 

[Grammy60]

Hello and welcome to BYC We are so happy you have joined us.

 

[LadyLoki]

Hi everyone just wanted to update. The new pullets are happy and thriving. Ended up introducing 2 new ducks and a gosling as well also happy and thriving.