Is it possible to introduce a rooster to a rooster-only flock?

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Is it possible for you to introduce the new rooster(s) while free-ranging? I've found that it's best for them to have the most space possible whenever you're adding a new roo to the flock.

 

[MROO]

We used to have a group of bachelors who roamed about the acreage like a little street gang. The alpha roo and his sidekick kept them from bothering the flock and they rarely attempted to. They'd spend the day foraging and sparring and sometimes groomed eachother. When we added another we'd just toss him out there. Usually hed try his luck with the flock and get his butt handed to him then join the gang. The gang would "jump him in", beating him silly before letting him join them. But they always did allow the new ones to join. Just expect some fighting for a day or two. Most of the time here the fight would go off and on for a half hour or 45 minutes then all was peaceful, but sometimes it took a few days if the new guy was very determined to be the new leader.

OhMaGosh! I have visions of West Side Story ... ala chicken ... I can just see 'em now, combs slicked back, dancin' down the street in formation, snappin' those spurs ...

 

[Elsveta641]

OhMaGosh! I have visions of West Side Story ... ala chicken ... I can just see 'em now, combs slicked back, dancin' down the street in formation, snappin' those spurs ...

That's fairly accurate lol. You should've seen them slinking along outside the edges of the outbuildings, waiting together around corners, brawling in the alleys. You had to squint your eyes as you watched, to make sure they weren't carrying little switchblades

 

[Mrs. K]

A 15 x 40 barn is a bigger space than many people's back yard.

 

[Elsveta641]

A 15 x 40 barn is a bigger space than many people's back yard.

What is your point exactly? I keep 50-60 birds in that space each night and over the winter. It is proportionate to someone keeping a small flock of 3 or 4 in a 4x10 run give or take. So I dont understand the purpose of your comment. Also it is a space within the barn specifically set up for chickens. The barn itself is 25x55, the remainder being empty.

 

[Mrs. K]

Well, I think that when you have very large flocks, in very large spaces they act different than an equivalent number of birds in a smaller space. In a larger flock, birds tend to find some friend, and some space. They can move away from more aggressive birds.

In smaller spaces I think there is more problems. I think there is a quality to space, one is static and the other is more fluid.

So my point is (and I guess it is just my theory, no offense intended) that while both birds in each set up, would have the "10 square feet rule", the small pen is limited to this 10 square feet, and the larger pen, the 10 square feet is much more fluid, so that at some points a bird might either more or less space.

Mrs K