Rooster introduction and other questions!?

[Tiltom]

Hello BYC friends!
I got another rooster for our flock about 3 weeks ago. We now have 16 hens. I have had Scavenger (our main rooster) I believe he’s a Brahma, for about a year now, he’s a total chill rooster, he does his job and takes care of his ladies. I recently got a Big Boy, a black brahma. We named him Gunny. Right now Gunny is about 6 1/2 months old and 9 lbs. he has been in a crate in the coop, getting accustomed to the flock and everything. He gets let out in the coop for a few hours a day to stretch and check everything out, like I said he’s a big boy! He will be in the crate for another two weeks, bc that’s what I was told would be best (a month in the crate getting used to everything). My question is, when I let him out do I do this in ordinary fashion, like as part of the flock? Or should I let the girls and Scavenger out, then let him out? I have never had a rooster this big and am wondering if he’s going to hurt my ladies by mounting them? Shoot I’m wondering if he’s going to be able to even go out the door!? Has anyone ever had a super big boy rooster and regular size hens? Is there anything I should be aware of or have concerns about that maybe I should think of before I let him in with the flock? Gunny is super sweet, he’ll let you hold him and he even knows “commands”. I walk in to the coop to let him back into his crate and ask him to go to his room, he walks down the roost, down the ramp and goes into his pen, like a dog. It’s the weirdest thing. He let’s us hold him and never gives us any problems, but I also know we’re the feeders and we’re bigger so just not sure if he will try to hurt my flock. I’m mostly concerned about him mounting them. We did get him for extra protection, as we’ve had a loss here and there in the past month bc I think Scavenger just can’t watch everyone right now.
Any advice for a big boy that’s going to get bigger? He’s supposed to be 15 lbs at full size.

 

[aart]

I have never had a rooster this big and am wondering if he’s going to hurt my ladies by mounting them?

I'd worry more about him fighting with your existing cock/erel.
Have they seen each other yet?

 

[HumbleAmerican]

I’ve never had issues turning a rooster out with hens. I’ve turned them loose at 2 in the afternoon and tossed them in at dark both and never had issue.

I believe you will have rooster issues. Two roosters raised together maybe, but you’re literally creating an environment that says ‘I am her to steal your ladies’. It could very well get ugly.

 

[Boise-girls]

15 pounds! Are you sure he's not part turkey?!

 

[McChooky]

I wouldn't put a rooster weighing 15 lbs in a flock of 5 lb hens (the risk of injury is too high) If you expect him to get that big this is a huge mistake.Those girls will be miserable. The little guy will fight when he goes to messing with his hens and it could be the end of him.

 

[TylerHayter]

wow, great big company

 

[Ridgerunner]

Gunny is about 6 1/2 months old and 9 lbs

At that age he is still a cockerel. I don't know how mature he actually is. A few of mine have behaved like a mature rooster by that age but most don't. There are different ramifications to that. The hens may not accept him as a fitting father of their potential chicks. His hormones may be out of control so he may get pretty physical with them. His mating technique may be under developed. The mature hens may bully him. Introducing cockerels to mature hens has a lot of potential problems. Sometimes it works out but there are certain risks. Brahma's are know to often be slow to mature, both physically and emotionally.

My question is, when I let him out do I do this in ordinary fashion, like as part of the flock? Or should I let the girls and Scavenger out, then let him out?

The way I'd approach this is to open the pop door so they can all get outside and then open his door. But do this when you can observe. With mine the adults all usually immediately go outside. I'd expect him to hang inside by himself for a while before he eventually went outside. It could be a few minutes, it could be hours.

Base what you do on what you see. It's possible things could go pretty smoothly, about anything can happen with living animals. What I would expect to see is that your mature rooster establishes dominance over him. That could be vicious fighting but I'd expect it to pretty quickly become chasing and running away. I would not expect that cockerel to stand up to a mature rooster regardless of size. In the wild a mature rooster usually runs cockerels out of the flock about the time they start bothering his hens. Those cockerels live on the outskirts of the flock until they can claim their own territory and start attracting their own hens. Or mature enough to go back and run the mature rooster out of his flock and take over.

If that cockerel has enough room to run away and get away he might be OK. Eventually the two may reach an accommodation on how to share and take care of the flock. That can look a lot of different ways. They may eventually stick together as buddies or you may need a separate coop for each rooster and their harems. It's also possible it will be a fight to the death, either now or when that cockerel matures enough to stand up to the other rooster.

I have never had a rooster this big and am wondering if he’s going to hurt my ladies by mounting them?

When chickens mate the hen squats. This gets her body onto the ground so the rooster's weight goes into the ground through her body instead of just through her legs. As long as the hen squats and the rooster's technique isn't too rough this generally allows a larger rooster to safely mate a smaller hen. Plenty of people have flocks with a large fowl rooster and bantam hens without problems. But the more difference in the weights the more the risk if something isn't quite right. Will he hurt them by mounting them? Probably not but there will be a risk, either now or when he gets bigger.

I think Scavenger just can’t watch everyone right now.

With a flock that size you generally get a few hens that always stick around the rooster but some of the others can form their own clique and go off on their own. That can still happen if you have two roosters. I personally don't put that much faith in a rooster providing a lot of protection to his flock from ground based predators. He often serves as an early warning system, especially from flying predators. He may even attack a hawk on the ground that has a hen down. But my roosters are much more likely to try to lead his flock to safety instead of fighting a rear guard action. Still, many people have different opinions about that so good luck.

Any advice for a big boy that’s going to get bigger? He’s supposed to be 15 lbs at full size.

Not sure why you think he will get that big. If you got him from a breeder that is possible. if you got him from a hatchery he probably won't get that big but Brahma's can be big boys.

My main advice is to go by what you see, not what a stranger like me over the internet tells you will happen or will likely happen. Each chicken has its own personality and each flock has its own dynamics. Those can widely differ.

 

[Mrs. K]

I would not keep him in a crate for a month? I wonder if you miss understood that direction. Usually they are kept separate for a month for quarantine, however if it is in the coop, that is not quarantine.

I would not attempt this, if you want multiple roosters to work together in a flock, IMO a cockerel raised up in the flock, so that there is a father/son relationship, so to speak, tends to work a wee bit better than most other situations.

Brothers or brother relationships sometimes work, sometimes work for a while, and sometimes never work.

Introducing a strange rooster to an established flock is asking for a cock-fight. How violent depends on the amount of space you have, the hormone level of the birds, and a lot of luck. This needs to be your main worry. Roosters and hens generally figure it out. As Ridgerunner says, it might work, but I would want a way to get a hold of each rooster to separate it AT HAND.

Good luck,

Mrs K

 

[Tiltom]

I'd worry more about him fighting with your existing cock/erel.
Have they seen each other yet?

Oh yes, they see each other every day. Gunny is in a crate in the coop, has been since day 1. I think I want to let him out this coming week, that'll be right at 3 weeks he's been in there. I let him stretch for several hours a day, due to his size and he gets to check out the coop and roost. I will probably have to build him his own roost area though! He's going to push those hens off, haha

 

[Tiltom]

15 pounds! Are you sure he's not part turkey?!

He's part dinosaur I think!