Questions about adding a Rooster.

katiebuslach

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So we bought a house on 5 acres and wanted to try the chicken thing. So we now have 15 chickens that we purchased from the feed store. We knew they would most likely be hens, but were hoping that we would get one rooster. And because where we live we're allowed to have them, of course they all turned out to be hens.

So our girls are 8 to 9 weeks now and we have moved them into a large indoor coop in the yard while we build the chicken yard around the coop. Basically I want to know if the girls are too young to add a rooster since we eventually want him for protection. and if we can add a rooster do we need to add one of the same age? Also with a flock of 15 girls do we need to add more than one rooster?

Like I said we were hoping to raise a rooster or two with our girls, so we are needing all the help we can get about tip on how to add, and when to add a boy into the mix. Thanks!
 
I don't have the answer to your question, but I have a similar question about roosters. At what age is it okay to subject pullets to a rooster?
I have one rooster 1 year old with 4 hens the same age, but I want to add 4 more. My pullets that I want to add are 14 weeks old now. Should I wait till they are laying?
 
Well I will share my experience with the subject. I had a rooster that grew up with a dozen hens. I later added 15 more hens to the flock and he didn't even attempt to mate with the hens until they were full grown. I added them around 10 weeks old. But you might consider that my rooster was already getting some action with my original flock so there's a chance that if there's no hens around his age he will try and mate with the younger ones. It's really questionable, I would test him out and if he keeps trying to mate with them maybe separate for a few more weeks.

One rooster is enough to keep 15 hens happy. Much more than that and I would get a second rooster. I would get a second rooster anyways, they are a lot of fun to watch and play an important role. Also if one of the roosters becomes overly aggressive you could have a backup rooster.
 
Mmm. I have a rooster of my own. He likes to mate with the hens, yes, but he's a lot younger than them;only about ten months. I'm going to add 6 more(hopefuly) hens. And I agree with cupman, you should always have a backup. It would probably be best if you got a rooster as a chick, just so that it isn't overly agressive.
 
Mmm. I have a rooster of my own. He likes to mate with the hens, yes, but he's a lot younger than them;only about ten months. I'm going to add 6 more(hopefuly) hens. And I agree with cupman, you should always have a backup. It would probably be best if you got a rooster as a chick, just so that it isn't overly agressive.
 
Our hens were 10 months old when we added a 6 month old cockerel. All were "adult-sized", which is important. Hens can kill a rooster that's smaller than them (and visa versa). If they're all of a size, the odds are more evened out for any of them to be able to either stand their ground or make a reasonable effort at running for it.

We introduced our cockerel by placing him in a large dog crate in the run and leaving him there for one week. He ate, drank, slept, and did his business in that crate. The girls did their usual routine in the run (which is where the coop is also located). Three days into this, we started letting them all associate with each other while free ranging. On the 7th night, we herded them all back into the run (after removing the crate) about two hours before dusk and then just observed everyone together in the run to see how they did. There were no issues, so when dusk fell and they all went into the coop, we let him go, too.

The rest is history.
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