Merging two flocks with one roo (please answer!)

[Ccaplan]

Seems like I'm always asking this. How old are the younger ones? Are you dealing with two flocks of hens and roosters or is one flock pullets and a cockerel? How mature they are can have a lot to do with how they react when they get together.

If you put two mature roosters together they will determine which is boss. It might be a fight to the death or they may reach an accommodation and get along. Typically each claim a certain territory and their own harem and stay out of each other's way but I have seen exceptions. Having two different coops would be a bonus but I've seen them share a common coop. You cannot tell ahead of time if it will be a fight to the death or if they will reach an accommodation.

If it is a mature rooster and an immature cockerel, the older male will dominate until the cockerel matures enough to challenge him. Again it is possible the mature rooster will kill the cockerel out of hand but often it's more of a case of running away and chasing. It's possible there will be a fight to the death when the cockerel matures enough to challenge but it is also possible they will reach an accommodation.

In any of these scenarios the more space they have the better. When they fight (males or females) the loser needs to be able to run away and get away. The winner may chase some but usually gives up. If the loser does not have enough room to get away then the winner does not know he/she has won. He continues to attack even if the loser quits fighting back. That often results in a dead chicken.

It's possible you have a brutal bully hen in your flock. She may attack any strange chicken. Usually with mature hens and reasonable space its not a huge problem but problems can happen, especially is space is tight. But mature hens outrank immature pullets and will often attack when he pullet invades their personal space. That may be a peck to run them off or it may be an all-out attack. That's why space is important, they need room to run away and get away. It usually doesn't take long for immature cockerels and pullets to learn to avoid adults as long as hey have enough room to avoid them.

If one of your pullets or hens accidentally flies over the fence and winds up with the other flock, I would not expect much of a problem. If they are of egg laying age the male may try to mate with them and bring her into his flock. She may switch flock loyalties. What I think most likely is that she will hang near that fence to be near her flock. She probably will not know enough to simply fly back over. At bedtime she will probably stay at the fence, desperately wanting to go to her coop but not knowing enough to fly back over. You may have to help her get home. But I don't give guarantees with animals and their behaviors. You really can't tell for sure what will happen.

If you want to merge the two flocks with both roosters or getting rid of one and just keeping the females, I'd try housing them side by side for a while. A week might be enough, a month might be better. Then leave that gate open when you can be around and see what happens. Practically all the excitement should be between the two males. That may be high drama, it may be anticlimactic. I would not expect that much drama involving the females.

Thank you! I have good news - I only have one roo! And total hens is around 16. But I want to know what you think. About half are older ladies like 3 years old and five are almost chickens so let's say three are laying as of last week but two are not yet.
And I have maybe 2 bully chickens but my Wyandottes are big birds. Now the caveat is I had a barn coop and moved half to a mobile coop about 6 months ago and just last week with this new area we built for them I moved the barn birds remaining to the second mobile coop so the areas are totally buttoned up...
They two spaces are huge - on 1/2 acre split down the middle so space is good which is the "upgrade" to this new area so I feel good about that for sure. And the 8 birds fit beautifully in each mobile coop. And only one roo with the older ladies. He's huge though - a gentle Barred Rock but giant compared to the younger flock across the way which are mainly smaller Easter Eggers.
Per your advice, I'll wait a month and then hoping the birds don't fly over in the interim and to you point if they do I'll just put her back.
Hoping when I open it in a month there will be low drama -or maybe I never merge the two! It just feels like since they stare at each other and that Roo is super curious eventually merging makes the most sense? Thank you so much for your response.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think of adding birds as pluses and minuses :
equal numbers is a neutral add
Older birds get pluses, younger birds get minuses
however once they are laying they are considered the same age, so again, pretty close to a wash.

home territory get pluses, new strangers get minues, and there waiting a month will get over that.

Truthfully, I think you could remove the fence and have no real issues, and if one flies over, they are telling you they don't have an issue. If they can fly over, then they can fly back.

Good luck

 

[Ccaplan]

Thank you so much for this-this makes so much sense. It's crazy that I happen to have the exact same number on each side plus a roo.
And the +'s almost cross out the -'s with five being almost laying hens but we're probably a month out. The territory is neutral as it's new for both flocks so that's probably a good thing too. I'll give it the full month and then go for it and see how it goes. Thank you so much for this!

 

[cottontail farm]

With the roo checking out the new ladies and the hens puffing up at each other, it sounds like you're well on your way to integrating them. I'd just keep an eye on everyone and combine them when they're basically ignoring each other. I've always had a very, very easy time integrating birds. After they get over the initial "who is that/will it kill me/can I mate with it?" they're just interested in what the other group is eating.
If your roo goes over the fence to check out the ladies, great. If one of the hens goes over the fence, there might be a squabble or two but I've never really seen hens give more than a "get away from me" peck. And she could get back over the fence to get away if she needed to, right?
Good luck, seems like things will go well.

 

[Ccaplan]

I'm so grateful to hear this - I was hoping this was all part of the integration and would help speed up the process. Today they seem to barely notice each other. I love that your experience integrating has been very easy in the past. The roo is super docile and appropriate - I wonder what would happen but he hasn't tried to fly over again. The top is wire which I imagine is super uncomfortable. Only those flights Easter Eggers could fly over as the other birds are all so heavy and the EEs are the babies and they get that peck for sure. The could totally fly back over - thank YOU, I appreciate this!