new cockerel rejected by flock?

[faithsbrood]

Hi all,

I recently rehomed a bantam cockerel (6 months old) and introduced him to my flock. but unfortunately things aren't going as well as I'd pictured! it seems the hens have no interest in him whatsoever - he'll show them food, sound alarms for big birds,etc etc but the hens just arent fussed/ he's been getting chased and now sleeps outside the coop. no crowing, no mounting, no nothing. I know he'll likely have to work his way up the pecking order but i thought, being a rooster, he'd get it a bit easier. I'm looking to breed him with some of the hens this spring but im worried they just wont take to him. any help?

 

[nuthatched]

How long was he quarantined and how was he introduced?

 

[faithsbrood]

How long was he quarantined and how was he introduced?

i put him in the coop at night time using one of those anti-peck scent sprays. i hadn't quarantined him at all i didn't with our last rooster either ... now realising ive made a mistake. aghhh

 

[nuthatched]

i put him in the coop at night time using one of those anti-peck scent sprays. i hadn't quarantined him at all i didn't with our last rooster either ... now realising ive made a mistake. aghhh

It takes a few weeks on integration for him to be accepted.

 

[Ridgerunner]

He is an immature cockerel. It sounds like your hens are more mature. It is totally normal for mature hens to not submit to an immature cockerel, bantam or not, regardless of size. Once he is more mature you will see flock dynamics change.

With my goals I replace my dominant rooster with a cockerel every year. I have experience with this but I do not have any bantams.

I cannot tell you an exact age that he matures. I've had a 5 month old cockerel take over a flock with mature hens. I've had one that could not do that until he was 11 months old. The cockerel's maturity is not the only factor. The hen's personality has a big effect on that also. Most of my cockerels can take over (usually peacefully) at seven months but it can vary a lot depending in the individuals involved.

Sometimes this takeover is extremely peaceful. I don't see any violence, just realize one day that he has taken over. One time I had one hen that really did not want to give up being flock master. She and the cockerel had some pretty nasty fights before she finally gave up and accepted him as flock master. Sometimes the hens are pretty brutal to the cockerel until he matures, maybe to the point of seeking him out to do damage but this has been pretty rare for me. Most of the time what I see is some of the hens submit to him while others run from him or fight him off if he tries to mate. The dominant hen may knock him off as he is trying to mate another hen, even if that other hen is willing.

Occasionally there is violence involved so it is possible one could get hurt. You do need to pay attention. But most of the time this transition is fairly peaceful with no one injured.

 

[McChooky]

(Edited due to errors)After 2 yrs 4 out of 7 of my original flock still won't have anything to do with my rooster .He was released as a baby cockerel at 3 months old(him and 12 baby chicks were on the other side of the divided run 12 weeks before I released him)The pullets weren't released until they were 4 mo old.All hens won't submit so it can cause issues