New rooster

[msm123]

I've got a flock with twelve pullets and a rooster that are three months old. Now I'm getting another rooster that is the same age. How do I keep them from attacking the new one.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can't keep them from fighting. Chickens have to determine a pecking order so they know how to live in their society. Once the pecking order is established they can live together peacefully, but establishing the pecking order can sometimes be rough.

I don't know if you plan on quarantining the new rooster or not. That's often a good idea. If you do, I suggest picking one of your existing flock to put with him. Sometimes a chicken will become immune to certain things so no matter how long you quarantine him he won't show any symptoms. And sometimes your flock is the one that is immune but will make a newcomer sick. I prefer to risk one chicken instead of my entire flock.

Your flock has already established a pecking order, but at 3 months, they are getting ready to hit puberty. Even if you don't add another chicken to change the established pecking order, the pecking order is going to change as they mature at different rates. Usually if they have enough room, this is not a big deal. You may not even notice any fighting, just a few occasional pecks.

With two roosters they will have to determine which is the dominant flock rooster as they get older. If they have room, this can involve some fighting but usually it is a quick skirmish followed by a lot of running away. If your space is tight, it makes it more dangerous, both from the pecking order stuff and the dominant rooster stuff.

If you can, I suggest you house the new rooster next to the flock where they can see each other but not get at each other for maybe a week. This won't help the pecking order stuff but it does help them from ganging up on a newcomer as much.

Integration will sometimes go so smoothly you wonder what all the worry was about and sometimes it can be rough. I think how much room they have has a lot to do with it. I wish you luck!!!

 

[Mattemma]

When I brought in my roo the girls attacked him.I expect that will happen in your case,but the difference being that there is already a roo.Roos often fight to the death(or serious injury),but there are cases where one roo will submit to the top dog.

Besides fighting it out you could seperate the flock and give each boy 6 girls.

I put my new roo next to the girls for a few days,and then one day I just tossed them together.When I added hens to hens I did it at night,.Pecking order in all situations.Gotta let them peck it out,and only step in for serious injury.I had a hard time holding back when the girls attacked the roo.Boy,those women sure can fight.The men are even tougher.

Good luck!

 

[SarniaTricia]

Only thing I could add to this is:
1. set up a see but not touch for a week or so
2. place him in a dark coop at night
3. lots of room to run if things get rough
4. maybe some bramble or a few piled branches for him to run under (cardboard box with holes on either side might work too)... sometimes just running under the obsicles slows down the chase. (my experience is that the new comers will hide their head in the corner and let the beating happen if they have nowere to hide.)

Good luck... the two roo situation might make this harder...

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you put him in a dark coop at night, get up before daylight and open it up so he can get way if they start beating him up when they wake up.

 

[msm123]

It's useless now. The way USPS packed it was cruel. It arrived dead. There was no way for it to move around as if it wasn't even a living thing. It was separated from the water with a cardboard divider. There wasn't even ventilation. It came three days late. I didn't know before, but no one should ship birds long distance. It's unreliable.

 

[TheNuttyChick]

So sorry for your loss.

Did you contact the place where you got him from?​

 

[SarniaTricia]

It's useless now. The way USPS packed it was cruel. It arrived dead. There was no way for it to move around as if it wasn't even a living thing. It was separated from the water with a cardboard divider. There wasn't even ventilation. It came three days late. I didn't know before, but no one should ship birds long distance. It's unreliable.

OMG!!!!
I would say this is the seller's packaging......
There are specialized boxes for shipping live birds. Boxes need to be marked clearly... There is even a specialized way of providing water/feed... shipping live birds would not be something I would be comfortable doing. There are a bunch of upfront costs on preparation, packaging and research.

Definitely contact the seller and let them know and talk to the shipper... maybe something can be done for the next guy. (and maybe get your money back for the cost of the bird at least!!)

Sorry for your loss....always a sad thing to lose a bird, not matter how long you have had him.
Patricia

 

[PigeonLady]

So sorry that happened to you - how upsetting!
I agree that the fault lies with the seller/shipper, NOT with the post office. I have never shipped chickens, but I have been shipping pigeons by mail for years and never had a problem. Of course I use the specialized bird boxes and ship overnight or second day. It's not really possible to let them have food and water in the box, but I use a large syringe and fill the crops with water before I put them in the box. Could you do that with a chicken?

 

[yo burrill]

It takes alot to kill a roo of that age.. Definantly talk to seller and pitch a holy fit at one or both of the them if warranted. One or both did something very wrong.