Rooster not taking to new hens

[thefishery]

Hi!

I'm new here and have a question.

I got a hen and a rooster from a man down the road (he has millions of birds roaming free, so cool). I've had them for about a year now. They are so fun and I've been wanting more. My hen did hatch 5 babies but, we had some issues with our neighbor... needless to say some of our animals ended up dead. The neighbor is gone now (facing hard time) and so I feel safe to add more hens.

We bought two hens two days ago and added them to the coop that night. Our existing hen is establishing her dominance, in a very lady like manner

The rooster on the other hand, is doing nothing. He has shown no interest in the hens at all.

I've been outside all day watching them. The new hens stay together and the hen and rooster stay together. I threw out some scratch and when the new pair came to get some, the old hen clucked at them and backed them up. Then the rooster came in acting like he was trying to break up a fight, protecting his one hen.

Is this typical for the rooster? How long does it take the rooster to get acquainted with the hens? I thought it would be automatic for him.

Is my hen calling the shots or what?

 

[NellaBean]

It just takes time. I have some cochin pullets that my big roo has kind of ignored for a while now. I even have a video where he chest bumps one to keep her away from "his girls". It took some time but he does finally like them now. I still haven't seen him try to mount them, but one of the cochin girls was getting chased by a newly hormonal roo, screaming at the top of her lungs....when that roo caught her and tried to mount her, my big head roo came over grabbed him by the back of the neck and tossed him off. So, he is finally starting to take care of his girls. I think if he had only had 1 girl to "play" with, he would have accepted them sooner (as it was he had 6 others that he liked).

 

[thefishery]

Thanks. I was watching today and he has left his hens side and gotten closer to the new girls.