OK, I'll try to keep this as short and simple as possible. I have 2 flocks - 11 that I got from friends, 8 or 9 will be culled, eventually. (They're old, and I'm only averaging 3 eggs a day from 8 hens. I'm going to keep them around until the others start laying) One of them is a beautiful Red Leghorn rooster. The other bunch is a cochin banty with 8 babies (about 2 weeks old) that I bought from the local feed store. I'm also building a new coop, and plan on putting the hen and chicks in there when it's done. I would like to introduce the rooster to the cochin and her babies, but don't know if I should do it soon, or wait till the babies are older. I'm hoping that I'll have the run done by the time the chicks are old enough to be outside, and the rooster and others can get used to them through the fence, then put the roo in later. What do you all think? Would a rooster be aggressive to them if I put them together now? I haven't tried "blending" flocks before. I also have 2 other hens that are free-ranging with the culls that will also eventually go into the coop.
