New Rooster, quarantine, flock introduction????

[homesteadmomma]

So I have some girls that are getting very close to point of lay, next couple weeks I hope! But the plan is to hatch out some eggs, either by broody or incubator this fall to increase some numbers. So hopefully I will have about double the amount of pullets that I have already. Since these will be mutt chicks, I decided that I wanted a pretty rooster, instead of my boring Red Comet roosters that I plan on taking to the swap meet on Saturday to get rid of, they sold for $2.50 each two weekends ago in the rain, so I'm hoping to make a couple bucks off each one, but I will be more than happy to give them away if no one wants to pay. So anyways, I have a friend that didn't have any roosters after stewing the last of the over-eager evil roosters, and he picked up three a little over a month ago. They have been quarantined together, with no sign of illness, mites, etc. Well anyways, he has a rooster that gets picked on pretty bad, and was afraid the other two would kill him and separated him from the other two, but obviously, was concerned about integrating him with the flock and the two other roosters, so he said that I could just take him. So now I have a much prettier rooster, but I need to know if I need to quarantine him another month, or would it be safe to add him to the flock? When adding him, what should I watch for? Assuming that I can add him before this weekend, what will happen with three younger (16 week) roosters?

This is him hanging out in the quarantine area at home AKA the dog kennel and a shed. I'm guessing he is a wyandotte crossed with??? and he is HUGE!

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

I would keep him quarantined at least 2-3 more weeks on my property.
To introduce him to the new flock, I would place him in a cage where he can see and talk to the rest of the flock. I have a wire pen made to put up against my runs just for this purpose.
After a couple of days or three, I would let him join the rest in the morning, but keep an eye out on them. No matter the age of the other roosters, it will disrupt the flock's pecking order.
There will be some pecking and possibly fighting but make sure it does not get out of hand.
My hens even pick on a new rooster.
You may want to consider trimming his spurs to reduce any damage he may inflict on the other birds.

ETA: Hopefully in a day the pecking order will be re-established and he can live with the rest of the flock. It can take a few days though.

 

[speckledhen]

Quarantine should last at least 30 days, better six weeks, but even then, it is not perfect.


He doesn't appear crossed at all to me, but pure Wyandotte.

 

[homesteadmomma]

Well looks like I better set up a more substantial housing area if he needs to be in there another 4-6 weeks. At least the shed is predator proof, and he has a work bench to roost on for the nights until I get a roost in there. Glad to head that he's all SLW, that makes me very happy that I will have some purebred SLW's running around sometime if these girls would ever decide to lay.