Rescue birds

[mylittlehippie]

I am new to byc and I won't be getting chicks until next year. That said I have recently had the opportunity to acquire adult birds in my desired breed (Barred Rocks). There will be two females and one rooster. They are not from the same flock. The rooster currently lives alone. My questions is I have been told that I need a minimum of 10 hens to every one rooster. If this is so should i either keep my roo separate of should i not acquire a rooster at all right now. I do want to breed my birds eventually. If I do end up with all three what is the best way to introduce them? Thank you in advance!

 

[Blackjack1392]

As far as I know, you only need a certain number of hens when you have multiple roosters. If there is no competition for the hens, then, I believe only having a few hens will be okay. I have a BR rooster and 6 hens with him and everything is fine.

As far as intruding them to each other goes, lots of people will tell you to quarantine them, and then keep them in separate cages where they can see each other but not get to each other, and then put them together in 1 cage. But in my experience (only 1 time), I bout my roo when my girls were about 6 months old and he was about 4 months old. I just threw him right into the pen and haven't had any problems. I actually have a girl sitting on some eggs right now.

 

[donrae]

With only 2 females for a rooster, you run the risk of the hens being overmated. Since you don't know the rooster, you don't really know if he's going to do this or not. If he's young, chances are higher, but no one can really say for sure. I say try it, just be vigilant about watching your hens for signs of stress. They'll be upset when everyone is introduced, but things should settle down in a few weeks and the hens should accept his mating. If there's still violent mating, the hens hiding from him, bare backs and bald heads, you'll need to rethink your plan and separate him until you have more hens.