Matured rooster with new pullets…

[VThomesteadgal]

Hello chicken world

Recently, my flock of 13 hens fell victim to a bear (or 2 we are still figuring that out) which has been a difficult time for me. Middle of the day, window of max 2 hours left alone in their run. When we thought everyone was gone, including Tina the rooster…just an hour before dark, who appeared outside the coop? TINA. Still in shock about this. We have been searching high and low for pullets and have thankfully found someone who needs to find a new home for their flock as they are moving and cannot bring them. We have totally revamped the coop and are getting some electric fencing as well.

My question though is this…Tina is a little over 2 years old. These pullets are about 2-3 months old. What is the best way to go about integrating them? Should we keep tina separated in his own coop and run until they are big enough to be together? He is a French Maran so quite large but such a gentle giant. We had a couple bantams and he never touched them, just an overall protector. We do not hatch eggs, newly living off grid and haven’t felt comfortable just yet with it, but we like keeping him around cause he was great with the girls and good at letting us know about predators (when we were home of course).

Any advice on what we should do and how to go about doing this would be very helpful! And if keeping him separated is best, is he allowed to be near the new chickens or do we need to totally isolate him from seeing them?

Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd just try to put them together and see what happens. A good rooster should not bother underaged pullets. Not all roosters are good but I'd give him a chance. At that age there is a reasonable chance he will adopt them and take care of them. I've seen a mature rooster help a broody hen with her chicks. There are several stories on this forum where a rooster took over raising the chicks if something happened to the broody or even when she weaned them. But observe and see what he does.

I see three possible outcomes. He tries to hurt them. I don't expect this but it can happen. If it does keep them isolated a while.

He takes care of them. Life is good.

The chicks and the rooster stay apart, don't hurt each other. Life is good.

 

[VThomesteadgal]

I'd just try to put them together and see what happens. A good rooster should not bother underaged pullets. Not all roosters are good but I'd give him a chance. At that age there is a reasonable chance he will adopt them and take care of them. I've seen a mature rooster help a broody hen with her chicks. There are several stories on this forum where a rooster took over raising the chicks if something happened to the broody or even when she weaned them. But observe and see what he does.

I see three possible outcomes. He tries to hurt them. I don't expect this but it can happen. If it does keep them isolated a while.

He takes care of them. Life is good.

The chicks and the rooster stay apart, don't hurt each other. Life is good.

Awesome thanks so much!!! I kind of had this feeling that he may be okay with them because we had a couple bantams and he didn’t bother her at all. Amazing creatures huh?

Thankfully the folks whom we are getting the chickens from have a friend who is interested in him for her flock so we have a back up at least!

 

[Mamatomany123]

I agree with the above, put them together and see how it goes.

I also highly advise replacing that chicken wire with hardware cloth at minimum. If you're dealing with bears then all you're doing is providing their next meal with that setup. They will tear down that chicken wire as easy as it is for you to tear a pice of paper.

 

[VThomesteadgal]

I agree with the above, put them together and see how it goes.

I also highly advise replacing that chicken wire with hardware cloth at minimum. If you're dealing with bears then all you're doing is providing their next meal with that setup. They will tear down that chicken wire as easy as it is for you to tear a pice of paper.

Thank you!

Yeah that photo was taken right after the rooster came home. We actually lined our run with hog panels and then lined the hog panels with the hardware cloth. And then did a perimeter of electric fencing (all advised by warden) so we are hopeful! And our coop is very difficult to get into so really hoping things go better this time around.

We have been here for almost 2 years and the bears have never bothered us but there is an aggressive bear that has actually broken into some homes near us that the warden has been following.

 

[VThomesteadgal]

Hello chicken world

Recently, my flock of 13 hens fell victim to a bear (or 2 we are still figuring that out) which has been a difficult time for me. Middle of the day, window of max 2 hours left alone in their run. When we thought everyone was gone, including Tina the rooster…just an hour before dark, who appeared outside the coop? TINA. Still in shock about this. We have been searching high and low for pullets and have thankfully found someone who needs to find a new home for their flock as they are moving and cannot bring them. We have totally revamped the coop and are getting some electric fencing as well.

My question though is this…Tina is a little over 2 years old. These pullets are about 2-3 months old. What is the best way to go about integrating them? Should we keep tina separated in his own coop and run until they are big enough to be together? He is a French Maran so quite large but such a gentle giant. We had a couple bantams and he never touched them, just an overall protector. We do not hatch eggs, newly living off grid and haven’t felt comfortable just yet with it, but we like keeping him around cause he was great with the girls and good at letting us know about predators (when we were home of course).

Any advice on what we should do and how to go about doing this would be very helpful! And if keeping him separated is best, is he allowed to be near the new chickens or do we need to totally isolate him from seeing them?

Thanks!

Also if anyone has advice or suggestions on game cams, we would appreciate it! We live off the grid with pretty minimal solar power.