Just bought a hobby farm

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NoNameFarm

In the Brooder
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Hello all,
We just bought a hobby farm. We weren't planning on getting chickens until next year but a friend of mine needs to rehome her rooster. Hes approx 1 yr old Orpington. He is apparently friendly and disease free. So we agreed to take the rooster friend.
Here's my dilemma

1: Getting him some hens: I have someone that wants to give me a 1 yr old Bantam hen (she is being picked on by 5 Barred Rock hens). Is this a good idea?

2: Introductions: I've read a bunch on how to introduce new chickens to an existing flock but there isn't much info on introducing two single birds to each other. Is it the same principle? Quarantine for a week or two, then introduce visually for a week-ish, then introduce physically (+/- at night)?

3: If I can't get some more hens right away will the Rooster and the Bantam hen be okay until I can get some chicks and raise them in the Spring?

Go easy on us, we are new.
Thanks in advance for the suggestions!
 
To be honest it is not a good idea to have one large breed(Orpington) rooster with a bantam ( small size) hen. She would be out of the frying pan(barred rock hens) and into the fire, being the only female with the rooster. He will be breeding her endlessly and with the big size/ weight difference - she could easily be injured.

A rooster can handle 10 hens. It would be better to have a few hens for him, and the banty hen going to someone who has banties.
 
Agree, would pass on the bantam hen. Your rooster will want to be a busy guy once he's got hens.

When/If you do get (full size adult) hens, I would get all of your hens from the same place to help minimize the health issues that come with introducing birds from different homes.

OR, buy day old chicks now and house Mr. Roo where he can see and hear them --- but can't touch them for a while. Then he's got companions in the mean time while they grow. Those chicks will grow up there and their immune systems will adjust what is already in your soil at your new place and do fine.

If you go the adult hen route, those hens' immune systems will need to adjust to whatever you've got going on --- and if they're from multiple homes --- hen #1 might carry something that hen #2 was never exposed to and get quite sick - and so on. And it won't be because someone sold you a sick chicken - it's luck of the draw, what wild birds fly over home #1 that pooped in their yard -- that kind of thing.

So: my point is - if you buy adult hens, get them all from the same place. They will still go through some variety of adjustment depending on what's around your new place that they've never been exposed to, but that's better than the variables of hens from multiple places.
 
NoNameFarm said:
Looks like I need to find my boy some sturdier ladies!
Click to expand...

And at a year old- he's not done growing yet- he will still get bigger and heavier. So, I'd avoid Leghorns and other smaller breeds. The act of chicken mating is essentially the rooster standing on the hen's back with his full weight - so yes, sturdier ladies indeed!
 
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You have been given some good advice.
 

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