introducing roosters

[pepe1]

I am buying two 16 week Easter egger cockerels and want to put them with 23 pullets that are 8 months old and i am not sure how i should go about this, thank you for any help.

 

[sourland]

If it were me, I would keep them in a pen adjacent to the pullets and wait until they were more mature to integrate them. All of this taking place after they had been quarantined away from your flock.

 

[chickens really]

Try it and see...Free range the first time let loose together..Some Cockerels can be randy and the Pullets scared...Hopefully they are Docile boys and don't act up...

 

[lazy gardener]

Are your pullets laying yet? If they are, that will make introduction go easier. Are you set up to do a true quarantine? If so, then I recommend doing so, no matter how healthy these boys seem.

Can I ask why you are getting two, and not one? While "they say" that the ratio should be 1 male/10 females, that is an arbitrary number that is picked based on standards for high production breeder flocks. My EE roo has easily covered 24 pullets/hens with excellent fertility.

When you introduce them, I'd suggest that you do so when your girls are free ranging (if you are set up to free range). Be around to supervise, and don't intervene unless one gal is getting unduly picked on. First breedings by inexperienced cockerels can look pretty brutal, as they haven't established dominance, nor have they perfected their technique.