We have another roo we wanna keep but he's

[Momagain1]

about 3 months old...my ONLY roo I have now w/the hens 5ish months old...

they WILL be together...but should I start now with putting him in there?
they see each other in a round about way...their runs are right next to each other..but they arent able to get to each other...

how should I do this safely???

 

[janinepeters]

It is always best to integrate slowly, starting with just a few minutes to see if they fight, and supervising until you feel confident they won't fight. Whether or not they will get along depends on the individual roosters' personalities, the number of hens you have, and how much space they have. Two roos with a small flock of hens in confinement is often a recipe for bloodshed if not death for one rooster, and I personally feel it is more humane to put one of them down, than to subject him to that kind of torture. At the other extreme, 2 roosters who free range over several acres with about 20 hens might tolerate each other fine...Depending on their personalities.

Even if they get along now, before they are mature, they might fight next year when the spring hormonal surge tells them it's time to get possessive with those hens, and mate them.