Hi everyone. Hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Autumn.
First a little background:
-I have a mid sized coop approximately 15x10 feet inside and the birds free-range on my five acres throughout the day, summer and winter.
-I have one flock master,who is a mild Golden Polish, two 6 month old BCMs who have been brought up together and do a bit of sparring, six hens.
-I bought a trio of mottled houdans yesterday and am getting ten generic brown layers tomorrow.
My question is how do I introduce the Houdan rooster without conflict. He is also mild mannered from what his last owner told me. Oh, also, I have a americuana rooster who is troubled constantly by the two BCMs. These three were brought up together but it doesn't keep them from chasing the Americuana around continually. I'm in the process of trying to rehome the Americuana but you know how that can be in the Autumn.
With this flock dynamic, will I be safe in introducing the MHs? I really want to work on the BCM and Houdan lines so I don't want any bloodshed and minimal fuss....just stress free living.
With a total of 18 hens, will there be enough to keep the boys calm or am I asking for it? I really want to keep the Golden Polish. He is a very good rooster, doesn't fight, good look out and an excellent provider I know I could probably house them in different spots but for convenience, I'd like them together and where they'll be out and about everyday, I just don't see the point.
Please, if you have a similar situation, let me know how it is working out and if you have any constructive advice, I would love to hear from you! Thanks for reading.
First a little background:
-I have a mid sized coop approximately 15x10 feet inside and the birds free-range on my five acres throughout the day, summer and winter.
-I have one flock master,who is a mild Golden Polish, two 6 month old BCMs who have been brought up together and do a bit of sparring, six hens.
-I bought a trio of mottled houdans yesterday and am getting ten generic brown layers tomorrow.
My question is how do I introduce the Houdan rooster without conflict. He is also mild mannered from what his last owner told me. Oh, also, I have a americuana rooster who is troubled constantly by the two BCMs. These three were brought up together but it doesn't keep them from chasing the Americuana around continually. I'm in the process of trying to rehome the Americuana but you know how that can be in the Autumn.
With this flock dynamic, will I be safe in introducing the MHs? I really want to work on the BCM and Houdan lines so I don't want any bloodshed and minimal fuss....just stress free living.
With a total of 18 hens, will there be enough to keep the boys calm or am I asking for it? I really want to keep the Golden Polish. He is a very good rooster, doesn't fight, good look out and an excellent provider I know I could probably house them in different spots but for convenience, I'd like them together and where they'll be out and about everyday, I just don't see the point.
Please, if you have a similar situation, let me know how it is working out and if you have any constructive advice, I would love to hear from you! Thanks for reading.