Want to add a rooster to my flock - need some advice

[Blackjack1392]

I have 6 barred rock hens that are roughly 6 months old. 5 of the 6 have started laying eggs and I want to add a rooster to the group but I have some questions.
First off: I am having trouble finding any BR roos for sale or trade. I have tried craigslist and looked through this site a bunch of times. Any suggestions on where else I could look?
Second: I did find an ad on craigslist for a BR rooster that is only about half the age of my hens. Would this work? Or do I need to get a roo that is the same age? or older?
third: If/when I eventually find one, can I just throw him in with the hens and be ok? or are there special steps I need to take?

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[Hayduke27]

when you do find one you can just throw him in with the hens and if he is of breeding age he should start mating with them right off and when you put him in the dominant hen will peck at him but if he's old enough he should lay down the law and show here that he is the boss then he should be okay and after a while the hens will follow him around just watch him sometimes they get over protective of his hens and will attack you if he gets that away don't hit him or get on to him just walk out of the pe and keep on going if you discourage him he wont protect the hens from predators i had a rooster that killed a raccoon that was trying to get one of the hens i know this first hand my old lead rooster was aggressive towards things that touched his hands until i kicked him and after that i lost 23 red star hens to a cougar so now i only have 27 red star hens but i don't have him any more he went off the deep end when he spurred me in the head for grabbing a bantam hen that got in the pen with him but other than that the age of the bird shouldn't matter i recommend getting a bird younger or the same age as the hens so that away he will live longer

Gold medal for longest sentence I've read on BYC!

 

[Mrs. K]

I have had 3 roosters, and two were good, and one was human aggressive. I don't know if this true, but someone posted that when the roosters are younger than the hens, the older hens teach him some manners. He will be at the bottom of the pecking order for a while, and work his way up through the ranks.

That when the roo is the same age as the hens, he out grows them faster, and he tends to be pretty aggressive when he starts mating. Now I am not sure if this is the case, but the roo I had to get rid of, was raised in a flock of hens the same age as he was...... the two I liked, were raised up from a chick under a broody hen, within the flock. So were always exposed to older hens.... chicks raised by a broody hen are a little more skitish of people, as you don't have the need to handle them, anyway those two roosters never acted aggressive to me, and their hens adored them.

Mrs K

 

[NHchicks]

When my 4 hens were about a year old, I wanted a rooster so we could have chicks. We found one on craigslist - he was the most beautiful cross I've ever seen, white tail, gold body. I got him around dinnertime, and that night I slipped his cage (I believe I used 2 laundry baskets) into the coop. The 4 hens were roosting in there, and when he made noise, they all WHIPPED their necks around, it was pretty funny. I'm sure they were thinking - that is one ugly hen! The next day I opened his laundry basket cage up and let him free range and he followed the hens around and got to know the place, and it worked out great.

I think it was the next summer, I had to give him up, because he was too noisy in the hot, quiet of summer. I hadn't counted on his main hen missing him so much. She would go to the coop at bedtime and stand in front of it and cock her head, I swear she was looking for him. The next spring she got sick and died (I think it was sour crop), could it have been from a broken heart?

Silly I know, but they do form communities. And those 2 did have a bond.

 

[wolfgirl9]

It doesn't really matter what age a rooster is. I have baby chicks and they hang out with my rooster. But DON'T mix the rooster and hens when you first get a rooster. Instead put the rooster in a separate pen close to the hens. And when you feel that the rooster & hens are acquainted. you can put the rooster in the hens pen. Only under supervised watch. But also some advice from me, I would get a younger or smaller rooster they're more gentle on the hens.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

It's hard to know what a rooster is going to be like until you see him interact with the flock. My roos so far have been brooder mates with their hens. One docile to us, showed leadership qualities at a young age right away, predator weary. Protective of the hens, caring in many ways. If I moved too fast or shooed his girls...he would/does get a bit mad....LOL. but I understand he's just doing that to protect his hens and I guess if he's protecting them from predators...I'll just respect, that. I notice he's territorial about how he protects the hens... So certain parts of the yard are "sacred" so to speak...LOL. It's all so interesting really. And then when he's up on the deck on my territory I can pick him up, pet him give him treats, etc. Fickle bugger. he's a bit more leary or ornery near the coop. I sometimes just carry a "rooster stick" down to the coop when collecting eggs or tucking them in for the night. He doesn't come near me when I have the stick and yes I've ruffled his hind feathers just a bit when he's wanted to spur me...but now I don't even have to do that when I'm carrying the stick.

Then the other roo I had was more aggressive...took over the flock from the first one, by starting fights. He reigned over things for a week before I'd had enough.... He Had the girls all up on the roof of the coop on hot summer days, so they weren't eating or drinking... They wouldn't come off the roost until 11am-12noon they were so harassed as it was. It wasn't hard for me to chose who would stay and who would go. He wanted to mate so much that I watched a hawk dive bomb the flock and he didn't even see it coming...never had that with the first one in charge. Lucky I didn't lose any during that dreadful week.

Over all I'd highly recommend having a rooster for any free ranging flock. I wouldn't tolerate aggressiveness to hens or humans...there are plenty of docile smart ones out there looking for homes.

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

This link may be helpful to you.

 

[Den in Penn]

You could try asking at the place you got them, or the feed store may have a sale or swap board. The younger rooster has a ways to mature. It is possible to put a younger cockerel in with older pullets. But they may just dominate him until he matures enough.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Mrs. K, that's interesting. I can see the wisdom in that. I've always thought that chicks raised in a flock get the benefit of the older chickens modeling a lot of behaviors that they can learn from. I can see where a cockerel maturing in a flock of older females would have to learn to be a little more socially adept or get the snot beat out of him.

 

[donrae]

I'd look into a younger rooster.

If you're wanting to hatch chicks, I'd also look into a different breed. With barred rock hens, if you use a non-barred rooster, you'll get sex link chicks, so you'll be able to sex them at hatch if you so desire. Buff orp roosters over barred rock hens make really pretty babies!