Rooster Blues?

[WilsonFarm528]

I recently adopted a rooster from a neighbor who was looking to get rid of his after my precious baby boy (Mr. Happy, the one in my profile pic) died this weekend

I decided to put him in the pen at the same time as adding my 4 adolescent hens to the flock, just to get the whole integration process over with on one occasion. BUT when I put him in, he ran right up to one of the new hens and they started fighting SOO bad and trying to kill each other (im not talking the occasional, pecking order jab to the head, this was an all-out brawl!). So, of course, I immediately separated them.
Im guessing that this hen (Coltrane) is... well.... NOT a hen. So now I have King George (the neighbor's rooster) in another pen on the other side of the yard and hes doing just fine, but I'm wondering if its ok to have him by himself or do roosters get lonely?
And my neighbor is saying if he has to take him back they want to try eating him... :'( (hes about 4 months old, is that the right age to eat a chicken anyway?)

I feel bad hes alone, but I don't have anywhere else to put him... so should I let my neighbors eat him? That just seems so sad...

 

[fruehter]

I would give him up.keep your flock happy.

 

[WilsonFarm528]

Do you know what age you normally kill a chicken to eat it? Ive heard they taste really bad when they're too old... George is a little less than 4 months. Just started crowing.

 

[SycolinWoodsChickens]

You can eat a roo at any age really. Just change the way you prepare them to eat. The older ones taste better stewed. We've even used a pressure cooker on one tough roo.
We are processing excess roos this weekend who will be 16 weeks old. We can roast those boys.

BTW, how did you try to integrate the new roo? I would quarantine him in case he has any illness for at least a month. He should be where he can see your flock but not get to them. Eventually you can try to integrate them with supervision.
I would never just throw a new bird in with my existing flock.

Also, how old is your new roo? The other possible roo, how old? There are a lot of reasons why the first meeting may have gone wrong.