Once bitten twice shy... adopting a roo?

[Shadrach]

Well... we've been down this road before I'd really like to have a roo in my flock. I'm new to all of this and would love some advice. We got lucky and have all hens. Our first flock we have 13 they're 7 months old and we've got a second flock of 13 coming up that are starting to lay they're about 5 months old. We also have a flock of 6 ducks.

We tried to add a roo to our flock a couple months back but it didn't work out. A friend of ours got a roo in their flock and weren't supposed to have him in their neighborhood. So we took him in. My girls are livestock, but they're also my pets. He was a blue laced red wyandotte, and oh so handsome. I tried everything and wanted him to work out so badly. He was in a crate in with my hens in their enclosed run.. well when I would let the girls out to free range for the day, Id let Mr Bleu out, but only supervised. He wouldn't leave my poor ducks alone.. He also seemed to side step me a bit when I'd walk in the run. So he went back.

Well... a friend of a friend now has too many roos. I guess he's young (not sure of the age) and can't seem to find a place in his flock, she has multiple roos. He's an olive egger. Is this something that would work if he was the only roo? What are particular behaviors I should ask about? Apparently he's been good with people.


Thanks in advance for the help!

This article might help you. Good luck. If you and he get it right there isn't anything better than a mixed flock imo.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

I’ve never had one wing dance or anything of the sort.

Last ones have just decided to flog me when I am not paying attention or am bent over gathering eggs.

They don’t survive much longer after those mistakes.

Neither do ours. We had a couple of bantam roos who would shuffle up to us and then do the wing dance, before bringing out their nonexistent spurs. Since they were too small to butcher, they got to stay till the fox got them. The same thing happened with one of my standard production RIR roos. He went to freezer camp. I don't deal with mean roos.

I do have multiple roos though, and when introducing new roos, I like to watch (to make sure no one gets hurt) and to better understand how they interact. Usually, they shuffle up to each other, as a challenge and then get the hackles up before it's an all-out fight.

 

[MarkJr]

Neither do ours. We had a couple of bantam roos who would shuffle up to us and then do the wing dance, before bringing out their nonexistent spurs. Since they were too small to butcher, they got to stay till the fox got them. The same thing happened with one of my standard production RIR roos. He went to freezer camp. I don't deal with mean roos.

I do have multiple roos though, and when introducing new roos, I like to watch (to make sure no one gets hurt) and to better understand how they interact. Usually, they shuffle up to each other, as a challenge and then get the hackles up before it's an all-out fight.

Best cockerel I had was a CM. About 12 weeks old I dumped him in with 26 week to 2 year old hens. He shuffled and tidbitted right off the bat. Was never aggressive until they were..... then all hades broke loose. He knocked the top 6-8 pullets off their high horses and mounted them straight away (only after they came after him). He waded through four of seven hens, then realized the last three were out for ending him. He took every one but those three mean girls and kept them away and harassed the remaining three away from the flock.

Four days later they started submitting to him and became part of the flock.

It was fascinating to watch. Harem of girls, and his crow still sounded like a scalded cat.

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

Best cockerel I had was a CM. About 12 weeks old I dumped him in with 26 week to 2 year old hens. He shuffled and tidbitted right off the bat. Was never aggressive until they were..... then all hades broke loose. He knocked the top 6-8 pullets off their high horses and mounted them straight away (only after they came after him). He waded through four of seven hens, then realized the last three were out for ending him. He took every one but those three mean girls and kept them away and harassed the remaining three away from the flock.

Four days later they started submitting to him and became part of the flock.

It was fascinating to watch. Harem of girls, and his crow still sounded like a scalded cat.

Nice!

I've got a biel cockerel right now, he sounds like he has a perpetually hoarse voice XD

 

[TimberLine Homestead]

I agree

 

[JulieBeth07]

You'll never really know until you try. His behavior could completely change if moved to a new flock and being the only male. Behavior can also change as they age. Many say you don't really know how they'll be until they are over 2 years.

I'd only suggest trying a male that is significantly younger or much older and calmer than your girls. Your girls (technically called pullets until 1 year) are still young. A male their age (called a cockerel) would be more likely to be overly aggressive with mating. If the cockerel is much younger and smaller the girls can chase him off easier and teach him manners. An older rooster will assert his dominance from the start but shouldn't be too rough on the girls (because he knowns what he's doing and his hormones aren't raging).

Another option is to wait to see if one of your girls goes broody and give her fertile eggs. I find that the best males are raised by broody hens in a multi generational flock. This also gives you time to learn more about your chickens. Plus watching a broody with her chicks is super fun.

I'd also suggest you look into quarantine procedures. Bringing in new birds can have risks.

I believe he may be around the same age as my younger crew (5 months)

I'm actually thinking about getting a small tractor type coop for a quarantine coop. I've noticed it to be pretty essential.

I've never had one of my girls go broody yet. But it's still early! Where could I pick up fertile eggs? A local hatchery?

Thank you so much for the info!

 

[JulieBeth07]

Seems like this would be a great situation for this little guy. I vote for giving him a try — starting him out in “look but can’t touch” mode with the ladies for a while, then bringing them together. There are tons of posts giving specifics on how to integrate if you’re not sure (though it looks like you do know).
Since this guy is young hopefully he doesn’t bring a lot of bad habits and baggage with him.

The habits are what worries me... I'm not sure if he's chasing other roos in his flock now if he'll miss the chase he would have plenty of ladies though, and I don't believe his flock at the moment is as large as ours.

 

[JulieBeth07]

Yeah really try a roo. If he's not near the ducks he should be fine.

He would be free ranging with my ducks during the day but housed with the girls. Apparently she does have ducks though and he behaves well with him. I guess Mr Bleu (the other roo we tried to adopt) was brooded with ducks, so we came to the conclusion (and we may very well be wrong) that was the cause.

 

[JulieBeth07]

I just dump a cockerel in among them and let them figure it out. He either gives what he gets or runs to the outskirts and slowly works his way in.
I’ve never had worry for a pullets health this way.

This is assuming free range and/or plenty of room to get away from each other.

Would you do a quarantine and then put him in? I would think the birds would eventually figure it out. We adopted a duck and she just blended right in with the flock the second she was put in. Definitely a far cry from the roo.

 

[MarkJr]

Always quarantine.