Looking for advice regarding integrating new chickens into a flock

[MJGreen]

Hey there, I have a flock of 10 comprised of two 4 month old roosters, 2 POL silkies, four silkies pullets and two Easter egger pullets. One of the roosters, who is clearly in charge as he’s been crowing for the past month, is now eagerly trying to mate with the rest of the flock, including the pullets. I’m worried that some of the smaller chickens that aren’t yet mature may be injured by this ( the cockerel is almost double their size) and so was thinking of adding a few more POL hens to the flock. I’m not sure if this is a good idea or not so some thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[Perris]

hello @MJGreen - welcome to BYC

How old are the other pullets? Ordinarily a cockerel will not try to mate an immature bird and definitely will not try to mate a chick, but an immature cockerel (as you have there, x2) sometimes struggles to control his hormones and can be a real jerk. He may grow into a wonderful roo but he has to get through this stage first. The males also have favorites, so adding more females will not necessarily improve the situation - and anyway you should quarantine any new birds for at least 2 weeks, so that's not going to solve the problem in the short term either.

Do you have a large dog crate in which to confine him for a few days to calm him down?

 

[thepick4uchicks]

Hey there, I have a flock of 10 comprised of two 4 month old roosters, 2 POL silkies, four silkies pullets and two Easter egger pullets. One of the roosters, who is clearly in charge as he’s been crowing for the past month, is now eagerly trying to mate with the rest of the flock, including the pullets. I’m worried that some of the smaller chickens that aren’t yet mature may be injured by this ( the cockerel is almost double their size) and so was thinking of adding a few more POL hens to the flock. I’m not sure if this is a good idea or not so some thoughts would be much appreciated.

Sorry but in my opinion you have a difficult situation all around. Adding more birds will not help the situation. As I see it you need to separate this rooster entirely at the moment from the flock until he settles down and the others mature and you decide what you want to happen with your birds. Do you want your birds to mate with this rooster when they all become fully not age and maturity or not? Until then keep the smaller and younger birds separate until he chills out. The little breed birds especially should really be kept in a separate run and coop if possible. If you plan to free range all of them then they need to mature and get it together with a mature flock leader. Anytime you decide to add new birds to a flock already existing they need to be quarantined at least two weeks minimally but thirty days is even better to insure that the new birds aren’t bringing any new diseases to your existing flock and or your flock doesn’t have anything that they are going to transfer to the new birds. That’s just good chicken keeping practices.

 

[aart]

two 4 month old roosters..... is now eagerly trying to mate with the rest of the flock, including the pullets.

That's what 4mo cockerels do.
Separate them, for a few months or permanently.
Pretty rare that a cockerel will leave immature females alone.
Having 2 just ups the action due to competition.

Adding more birds will not help the situation.

Ditto Dat.