ROOSTER INTRODUCTION - ADVICE PLEASE

[Girl43]

It is a shame they are so beautiful but have such jerk ("a" word) personalities! I think I'm going to introduce, monitor, and then probably build a separate enclosure for them or the guy. I'm just hoping things work out. I'm TRYING to be an optimist.

 

[Apdeb]

Girl 43 pm aoxa she has a mixed flock in canada and raises houdans her website is
Www.lesfarms.com

 

[Mountain Man 60]

Another physical attribute that may be a hint is the five toes with very long nails. Hudons look like they have been bread to fight. Mine had stare downs with the hens and got into moc fights with them. Since I removed them the flock is much more relaxed. Hens now eat in peace and take dust baths rather than spending their day trying to avoid the Hudons. We raised them from peeps in a mixed environment so no one made them cross.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

To be sure and certain that the chicks you hatch are fathered by the rooster ['s] you prefer you need to remove all the male lines that you don't want to breed and do it now. If you don't you will at worst need to let each hen you want to breed next spring lay out and set for 18 days next spring, then discard her first clutch of eggs and then breed her a second time to the rooster you prefer. Only then can you save and set her second clutch of eggs and be sure that there won't be any surprises in the chick nursery when the eggs hatch. That seems like a waste of valuable hen DNA and time for no good reason. Don't take this the wrong way but I didn't know that the weather was so good in Nova Scotia and that the summers were so long and sunny that you could spend months and months of good chicken breeding weather making sure that your hens were clean of all unwanted rooster DNA. Good luck.

 

[donrae]

To be sure and certain that the chicks you hatch are fathered by the rooster ['s] you prefer you need to remove all the male lines that you don't want to breed and do it now. If you don't you will at worst need to let each hen you want to breed next spring lay out and set for 18 days next spring, then discard her first clutch of eggs and then breed her a second time to the rooster you prefer. Only then can you save and set her second clutch of eggs and be sure that there won't be any surprises in the chick nursery when the eggs hatch. That seems like a waste of valuable hen DNA and time for no good reason. Don't take this the wrong way but I didn't know that the weather was so good in Nova Scotia and that the summers were so long and sunny that you could spend months and months of good chicken breeding weather making sure that your hens were clean of all unwanted rooster DNA. Good luck.

Why does she need to separate now? If one wanted to hatch specific eggs say in March, one could pull birds to appropriate groups in early Feb and be just fine, no?

 

[Girl43]

Hi. Well, all is good here with the ongoing chicken intro. After wading through a lot of opinions on a number of topics relating to this issue, I've accomplished what I set out to....a peaceful coexistence with all the birds.

Chickens are always interesting and never cease to surprise me. Because of my limited outbuildings and space restrictions, I have them all in together, separated by chicken netting, and free-ranging during the day time. I made sure I was around all day and kept an eye on them. There were a couple of sparring matches but very small beans really. I went to put them in last night and the Houdans were in with the GP. Today all is quiet on the front. The MHs hang out apart from the GP camp but they all eat and drink together and everyone appears happy. Both roosters (GP and MH) seem to have similar energies and have chosen to just pretend the other doesn't exist.

 

[donrae]

 

[Girl43]

Yeah, I feel the same way...huge relief! I'm waiting for the big "OH my Gosh, you haven't quarantined them for the right amount of time or some such nonsense...I'm sure it is on the way but I'm the girl that allows her turkeys around all the other poultry and haven't had blackhead or anything happen that way ever. Take chances!

 

[199787]

Glad to hear it! Sometimes things do go right

 

[Martine1]

Hi there.
If you have enough hens so that he does not concentrate only on one you should be ok.
I would suggest though that you house your hens separately for a while.
Let the new and old girls get used to each other, let them settle in and lay properly so they know where the feed and water is, bed etc.
Then after a week, introduce the male and watch them carefully.
it should be ok, as long as you always introduce the male to the females, and not toss females into the cock run.
It is more important for the girls to get along, they can be real bitches, and for them to be settled than it is for the cock.
M