Introducing a 6 week rooster to mature hens

[JRS]

The two adult coops and run

The cockerels

The big brooder with the 10 chicks

Hi everyone I have searched the Internet for days but can’t find anything on introducing a young rooster to a flock of mature hens. The question: is it about age or size (for safety)?

I have Barred rocks that grew up together so the rooster naturally grew up with them.

Now separately I have 7 astrolorpes about year or so old that I would like to introduce on of my young roosters too. I have hatched 10 chicks and have two roosters out of that batch. I’m keeping the other rooster with the 8 young hens that he is growing up with.

 

[aart]

Integrating a 6 week old cockerel to a group of 12 month old hens could be a disaster.
They will kick his butt....he's still a baby chickie.
It's mostly about age(maturity)...and size....and a single new bird into an established flock.

I'd leave him with his hatch mates until they start causing trouble at about 4 months.
Or integrate him and a few of his hatchmates now into the 'lorps pen.

I brood in section of main coop from 1 week after hatch and integrate by 4-6 weeks.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

But still follow....
Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.

This used to be a better search, new format has reduced it's efficacy, but still:
Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading, BUT some info is outdated IMO:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[Ridgerunner]

In my opinion size has little to do with it. I've seen way too many small chickens dominate much larger chickens to believe it is size. To me, maturity is an important factor when you are dealing with immature chickens. A more mature chicken will dominate a less mature chicken until the maturity differences level out. After maturity levels out, it depends on the spirit and desire to dominate in the individual chickens.

That six week old cockerel is still a chick. I'm not sure the hens will see him as male or female at that age. At six weeks I'm not sure there is any real difference in integrating a single cockerel or a single pullet to your flock of mature hens. When he hits puberty and his hormones start acting up that will almost certainly change. That's normally at 4 months but some start a month earlier, some a couple of months later.

You can try introducing him to them now if you wish, it might or might not go better than trying later. I'm also a firm believer in that the more room you have the easier any integration is. I don't know how much room you have to work with. In general follow the normal procedures for introducing chickens. House them across wire for a while, give them as much room as you can with places to hide under, behind, or above. Have widely separated feed and water stations and do not expect them to sleep on the roosts together until he matures more.

Introducing one chick to a flock or hens can be problematic. They are social animals so he or she will probably want to be with the hens but they may not want to put up with a snotty young brat invading their personal space. Many people do this successfully with single pullets or single cockerels but success is not them all snuggling up around a campfire singing Cum-Ba-Yah, success is that he doesn't get hurt. That other stuff comes later.

When he hits puberty and the hormones kick in things will probably change. He will want to mate with them, they will say NO! The hens may just run from him or they may beat the snot out of him, especially the dominant hen. How fast he matures is a factor, the personality of the hens plays a big part. I've had a 5 month old cockerel dominate a flock of older hens and be flock master, I've had one cockerel that took 11 months to win over the dominant hen. She really liked being flock master and he did not have a real strong personality. But they eventually worked it out.

You have several other options. You can leave both cockerels with the pullets for as long as you wish. Once the cockerels hit puberty they may create a ruckus and you may decide that is a good time to try. You can isolate that cockerel until he matures and try. You could put both cockerels in with the hens now and see how that goes. I kind of like that idea as they would have each other for company, at least until puberty kicks in. Another one I like is integrating all 10 of them, cockerels and pullets, until they mature enough that you want to separate them. I don't now how much room you have or what your facilities look like.

You can expect some excitement with one or two cockerels with the pullets when puberty strikes in that pen. The cockerel will want to dominate the pullets (he does that by mating with them, often by force) and the pullets will probably not be willing to accept him as flock master. If can get really messy in there. Again many of us do this all the time so you are not guaranteed failure, it just may look like it. They eventually mature enough to grow out of it.

I understand you are looking for the best way to do this. There is no best way for everyone. It depends on the personalities of the individual chickens, how much room you have and the quality of that room, and your management techniques. Any if them can work fine, any carry some risk because of the age differences. Sometimes integration goes so smoothly you wonder what all the concern was about.

The way I manage this type of thing is that my brooder is in the coop or I use broody hens with the flock so the chicks are raised with the flock. I typically just turn the brooder raised chicks loose at 5 weeks, they get along with the adults but keep their distance. I've had broody hens wean their chicks as young as 3 weeks, leaving them to make their way alone with the flock. But I have a lot of room, many people don't have that. This is why I like the idea of integrating them all now and separating them later as your goals and their behaviors tell you. But I don't know how this would work for you. What works for me could be a disaster for you.

I wish you luck. I don't see that there is any wrong way to try this, especially if it works. But however you proceed, observe and be ready to try something different if you need to.

 

[JRS]

Thank you for the info and your opinion

Integrating a 6 week old cockerel to a group of 12 month old hens could be a disaster.
They will kick his butt....he's still a baby chickie.
It's mostly about age(maturity)...and size....and a single new bird into an established flock.

I'd leave him with his hatch mates until they start causing trouble at about 4 months.
Or integrate him and a few of his hatchmates now into the 'lorps pen.

I brood in section of main coop from 1 week after hatch and integrate by 4-6 weeks.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

But still follow....
Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.

This used to be a better search, new format has reduced it's efficacy, but still:
Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading, BUT some info is outdated IMO:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[JRS]

In my opinion size has little to do with it. I've seen way too many small chickens dominate much larger chickens to believe it is size. To me, maturity is an important factor when you are dealing with immature chickens. A more mature chicken will dominate a less mature chicken until the maturity differences level out. After maturity levels out, it depends on the spirit and desire to dominate in the individual chickens.

That six week old cockerel is still a chick. I'm not sure the hens will see him as male or female at that age. At six weeks I'm not sure there is any real difference in integrating a single cockerel or a single pullet to your flock of mature hens. When he hits puberty and his hormones start acting up that will almost certainly change. That's normally at 4 months but some start a month earlier, some a couple of months later.

You can try introducing him to them now if you wish, it might or might not go better than trying later. I'm also a firm believer in that the more room you have the easier any integration is. I don't know how much room you have to work with. In general follow the normal procedures for introducing chickens. House them across wire for a while, give them as much room as you can with places to hide under, behind, or above. Have widely separated feed and water stations and do not expect them to sleep on the roosts together until he matures more.

Introducing one chick to a flock or hens can be problematic. They are social animals so he or she will probably want to be with the hens but they may not want to put up with a snotty young brat invading their personal space. Many people do this successfully with single pullets or single cockerels but success is not them all snuggling up around a campfire singing Cum-Ba-Yah, success is that he doesn't get hurt. That other stuff comes later.

When he hits puberty and the hormones kick in things will probably change. He will want to mate with them, they will say NO! The hens may just run from him or they may beat the snot out of him, especially the dominant hen. How fast he matures is a factor, the personality of the hens plays a big part. I've had a 5 month old cockerel dominate a flock of older hens and be flock master, I've had one cockerel that took 11 months to win over the dominant hen. She really liked being flock master and he did not have a real strong personality. But they eventually worked it out.

You have several other options. You can leave both cockerels with the pullets for as long as you wish. Once the cockerels hit puberty they may create a ruckus and you may decide that is a good time to try. You can isolate that cockerel until he matures and try. You could put both cockerels in with the hens now and see how that goes. I kind of like that idea as they would have each other for company, at least until puberty kicks in. Another one I like is integrating all 10 of them, cockerels and pullets, until they mature enough that you want to separate them. I don't now how much room you have or what your facilities look like.

You can expect some excitement with one or two cockerels with the pullets when puberty strikes in that pen. The cockerel will want to dominate the pullets (he does that by mating with them, often by force) and the pullets will probably not be willing to accept him as flock master. If can get really messy in there. Again many of us do this all the time so you are not guaranteed failure, it just may look like it. They eventually mature enough to grow out of it.

I understand you are looking for the best way to do this. There is no best way for everyone. It depends on the personalities of the individual chickens, how much room you have and the quality of that room, and your management techniques. Any if them can work fine, any carry some risk because of the age differences. Sometimes integration goes so smoothly you wonder what all the concern was about.

The way I manage this type of thing is that my brooder is in the coop or I use broody hens with the flock so the chicks are raised with the flock. I typically just turn the brooder raised chicks loose at 5 weeks, they get along with the adults but keep their distance. I've had broody hens wean their chicks as young as 3 weeks, leaving them to make their way alone with the flock. But I have a lot of room, many people don't have that. This is why I like the idea of integrating them all now and separating them later as your goals and their behaviors tell you. But I don't know how this would work for you. What works for me could be a disaster for you.

I wish you luck. I don't see that there is any wrong way to try this, especially if it works. But however you proceed, observe and be ready to try something different if you need to.

Thank you. I live on 10 acres. I have two separate coops with a run in the middle. They have probably about a quarter acre fenced off just for the chickens. The barred rock hens don’t get along with the astrolorps all that well so unless they are out free ranging they live separately the barred rock rooster mates with all the females when they are out together. Not sure I want to mix 10 chicks with all 12 hens and rooster just yet. I’ll leave them all in the big brooder until we get the new coop built then try to integrate them with the astros since they are more tolerant than the bards. I’ll post later and let y’all know how it goes.

 

[Spaeth-chicks]

I know this was over a year ago, but I'm curious how it went? We're a new chicken family. We hatched eggs from friends and currently have 7 almost 6 week old chicks. 3 cockerels and 4 pullets. We're going to be giving one of our roos to our friends established flock of hens. I believe they have 15 hens, that range from 3 months - 2 years old. He will be their first rooster. He'll be integrated in solo. I'm trying to figure out when the best age for me to give him to them is. He's really sweet, and I'm worried about how he's going to get on with all the adult chickens that he's going to meet. He's smart and sweet. He's already starting to crow (or at least he's been trying) over the past week. I'm just wondering when the right window age/maturity should be that I hand him over to our friends.

 

[JRS]

I think having had a ton of hens and chickens at this point that it’s more about size than age. Right now we have three juvenile chicks about 3 months old and they are still adjusting to being with the flock that has about 30 hens and two adult roosters. They are learning all about the pecking order and how they will fit in depending on if they are hens or roos. We’re not sure but we think one is a rooster. We see them hanging out with the rooster sometimes which is always a big worry but he’s a sweet rooster and the alpha of the two. Or other rooster is a tiny silkie and even the hens chase home away . When the rooster is at least minimum half the size of the hens I think it’s ok. They will most likely chase him away but no major issues with pecking order should happen as much as if he were a young hen. Hope this helps.