Introducing younger hens to young Rooster but is older than hens.

[Lareebell]

I read about this on another thread. If I do in fact have 2 roosters. I am keeping the mellow one out of the 2. I have 3 new hens in a crate now. Maybe 10 weeks old. They have not been outside yet. How do I introduce the Rooster to the hens? He is reaching about 6 mos old, hatched in April.
Do I let the hens have the coop so they can get used to it? And have the Rooster stay in the crate beside the coop? And let him out for a week or so? While keeping the hens in the coop so they get used to the coop and also see the Rooster? Any suggestions?
Thanks! New to raising chickens.

 

[Lareebell]

Thank you all for your reply’s! I had no idea about polish until now! I always wear polish but this color is brighter. And I will say the right word for the
Chickens. The only reason I would keep one of them is because they hatched in my sons classroom. And I think it’s sad how many roosters are killed per year. But it seems like they do change the dynamics of everything. If I need to keep the cockerel separate from my 3 pullers until laying, that will be a while. And could be difficult. May need to find homes for both cockerels. We are planning on connecting a run to the coop. Just haven’t had time yet..

 

[Mrs. K]

If asked, I recommend a hen only flock the first year. Roosters take a lot of experience, and roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people. Most people that have never seen a rooster attack, vastly underestimate it.

This forum is full of stories where the darling goes to the nightmare in an instant. Probably not the case, but inexperienced keepers do not always pick up on the signals that the rooster is becoming aggressive.

People on here keep all kinds of flocks. Flocks of more than 50 birds, to flocks of 2-3 hens. Their set ups are completely different, and so are the dynamics of their flocks.

Looking at your set up, I agree that it would be very difficult for even an experienced person to raise up a nice rooster in that tight of quarters. Roosters take a more space than hens do.

And while the fact that a lot of roosters do not get to live a long life, it is sadder when a child is attacked. If your child is under 6 years, it is more than likely he who will be attacked first, and often near or at the face level.

So yes, I would highly recommend a hen only flock in that set up. Add more birds after you expand it, not before.

Mrs K

 

[Chickassan]

Id be worried if he didnt peck your feet because that would mean he's either blind or mentally defective.
Wearing polish is practically asking for pecking.
Maybe you should stick with hens for now.
Roosters are weird and have a learning curve that can be eh...unpleasant at times.
You're new at this, do the fun stuff enjoy your girls, gather eggs.
In a year or so if you'd just like to say wtf on a daily basis get a rooster and enjoy the many delights and outright confusions they bring.

So you might need introduction time by keeping separate for a while? Keeping the 1 rooster away from the hens for a while and just letting them see each other through a fence? I did mention that 1 roo is more mellow of the two.
But!!!! Actually the big one is louder and more timid. The rose cone one isn’t as loud. But!! Tonight I got home and had them follow me to the coop without treats. Getting dusk, I thought they would just go in like usual. The rose cone one starting picking my feet hard!! I had to shove him away and yell for my son to get the scratch so I had a barrier. I started walking from the coop and they followed and the rose coned had stopped picking me before then. But that was unexpected behavior! What am I looking at here for keeping 1 rooster? Or what to expect?
Since I am new to chickens. Maybe I should just start with the hens only??? It's still warm here. Soon end of October it will be maybe 50's at night, the cooler nights.
The coop I have is from tractor supply. A small one. Maybe 6ft to 4ft wide with the bedding on the top level.
Thank you in advance!

 

[aart]

Since I am new to chickens. Maybe I should just start with the hens only???

Yes! Especially with that small of a coop, which should be fine for 3 females.

FYI.....semantics, maybe, but can be important communication terms when discussing chicken behavior.
Female chickens are called pullets until one year of age, then they are called hens.
Male chickens are called cockerels until one year of age, then they are called cocks(or cockbirds or roosters).
Age in weeks or months is always a good thing to note.


If a bird pecks at you...
peck them back, on the head or anywhere I can reach, with the tips of thumb and first 2 fingers, as hard and fast as many times as I can before they get away. Well, not hard enough to hurt them, just startle them and let them you mean business. That's what another chicken would do, so they understand that kind of communication.

If that doesn't work after a couple applications, I hold them down to the ground with my hand on their back until they submit....again firmly enough to get the job done but not hurt them....add a few finger pecks and/or tug on the feathers on the back of their neck.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi Lareebell, welcome to the forum.

You do not have two roosters, you have two immature cockerels. You do not have three hens , you have three 10-week-old female chicks. There is a lot of difference in how mature roosters and hens behave compared to immature cockerels and pullets behave and your females are still more chick than adolescent. If they were all mature I'd suggest you just put one rooster in with your hens, that is often the easiest integration there is. But at those ages and especially with your limited space that could be really challenging.

What are your goals with chickens? How does a rooster fit in those goals? The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Anything else is personal preference. Nothing wrong with personal preference but that is not a need. I generally suggest you keep as few males as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems with more but that problems are more likely. That's for people with more room than you have. With your set-up one might be possible but unless you have a strong preference, zero is probably your best choice. If you do want one I'd suggest housing him separately until those pullets start to lay.

They did some damage to your feet, didn't they. I don't know why they did that. Do you often wear shoes that expose red toenails to them? Sometimes red can attract them. Something else may have caused them to do that.

I don't know that I'd call that human aggressive. To me human aggressive is more when they sneak up behind you and try to claw you, usually from ambush. I could see hens pecking like that if they thought you should have treats. Still, if you can't handle that without a barrier I would suggest you get rid of them. The pullets will give you some good experience.

 

[Lareebell]

If asked, I recommend a hen only flock the first year. Roosters take a lot of experience, and roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people. Most people that have never seen a rooster attack, vastly underestimate it.

This forum is full of stories where the darling goes to the nightmare in an instant. Probably not the case, but inexperienced keepers do not always pick up on the signals that the rooster is becoming aggressive.

People on here keep all kinds of flocks. Flocks of more than 50 birds, to flocks of 2-3 hens. Their set ups are completely different, and so are the dynamics of their flocks.

Looking at your set up, I agree that it would be very difficult for even an experienced person to raise up a nice rooster in that tight of quarters. Roosters take a more space than hens do.

And while the fact that a lot of roosters do not get to live a long life, it is sadder when a child is attacked. If your child is under 6 years, it is more than likely he who will be attacked first, and often near or at the face level.

So yes, I would highly recommend a hen only flock in that set up. Add more birds after you expand it, not before.

Mrs K

Thank you!
So funny, actually not. This coop is advertised for 8 chickens! I don’t think so! This is a good source here and I am glad I found it. My son just turned 8, but I can see if he was younger it could be very scary! He doesn’t seem to mind that we find homes for the original chickens hatched in his class. In fact he wouldn’t mind them for dinner. But we aren’t going to go that route!!

 

[Cryss]

I wish people would post a link to those coops with photos and dimensions on here and ask for a review before they buy them. Most of the time we'll probably talk them out of it or suggest modifications to make them work.

As one who did by one of those coops...
I didn't post pictures and ask for a review before purchasing because I didn't even know about BYC. I spoke to my breeder about the best time to bring home my chickens and what to feed them and how to manage freezing water. I went online looking at coops, found TSC coops, and went to my local TSC to check them out personally. The box said 8 chickens, I was only getting 4. Great, I'm ahead already...not. And then there's chicken math.

I'm betting 99% of first time new coop owners have no idea they need to check to see if the company lies. If I buy a coffee maker to make 8 cups of coffee I assume that the one that says (on the box) it makes 4 cups is not the one I want. I buy the one that says 8 cups. A coop sold by a farm supply store would be assumed to know what they are doing and, hey, the box says 8 chickens. Why would any first timer think they were lying?
Shame on farm supply stores.
I now jump at the chance to quickly give my experience to newbies to help them get through the mistake and then move on to improving conditions. I have so much more to learn but this is something I can teach!
We gotta give newbies some empathy.

 

[Lareebell]

So you might need introduction time by keeping separate for a while? Keeping the 1 rooster away from the hens for a while and just letting them see each other through a fence? I did mention that 1 roo is more mellow of the two.
But!!!! Actually the big one is louder and more timid. The rose cone one isn’t as loud. But!! Tonight I got home and had them follow me to the coop without treats. Getting dusk, I thought they would just go in like usual. The rose cone one starting picking my feet hard!! I had to shove him away and yell for my son to get the scratch so I had a barrier. I started walking from the coop and they followed and the rose coned had stopped picking me before then. But that was unexpected behavior! What am I looking at here for keeping 1 rooster? Or what to expect?
Since I am new to chickens. Maybe I should just start with the hens only??? It's still warm here. Soon end of October it will be maybe 50's at night, the cooler nights.
The coop I have is from tractor supply. A small one. Maybe 6ft to 4ft wide with the bedding on the top level.
Thank you in advance!

 

[chickens really]

Well you know why he pecked your toes..
Your Coop is pretty small so get rid of the Cockerels if that's all you have for now..