When to let rooster mix with his new girls

[citygirl]

I have a 5 month old Black Copper Marans (the patriarch) and 9 straight run 5 week old fuzzybutts. They are sharing a very large brooder with a hardware cloth divider until our coop was finished.

When do you think we could allow them to be together without that divider. They were in the same area for a few minutes and Cash (my cockeral) didn't seem aggressive but the babies acted scared to death. Any recommendations?

Also, I have 14 cuckoo marans pullets that are only two weeks old. Could I put them in with the 5 week old babies without worrying that they would get picked on? Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[saladin]

You can mix the chicks; however, at 5 weeks they should be only one week away from a grow out pen.

As to the cockerel, he will be wanting to breed within the next month or so; I would not put him with those young pullets; he will worry them to death. I would wait until those pullets are at least 16 weeks of age or older. At 16 weeks of age he is still going to worry them alot. The best age would be to wait until they are around 24 weeks.

 

[citygirl]

Thanks for your response. Our coop is ready and we can move in this weekend. I feel bad for our cockeral because he's by himself but I don't want to hurt the babies. We'll be moving the little ones all together this weekend.