I just bought a rooster and i have a few questionss.help?

Question

Okay, well at the ranch I ride at, we used to have 5 hens and 1 rooster. But this past few months all of them where gone except for the rooster and one hen. And then yesterday our rooster died:(. So today, we went and bought a new rooster. We where going to get a couple of hens too, but we decided to wait. So we brought the rooster home and put the hen and the rooster in seprate cages, and put them right next to each other. At first the rooster was quiet and the hen was sqauking very loud for about 15 mintues. Then they got closer and closer to each other and then they where peeking at each other though the chicken wire. (thats normal right?) So I just need some advice, like what to do, what is normal, when should we put them in the same cage, stuff like that. Thank you SO much!

oh the rooster is pretty young.. 6 months i think.

and the hen might be 4-6 years old.

is that okay?

Answer 1

well you should have kept them separate for a while longer so no diseases can spread but if he is that young you shouldn't have to worry about him hurting her that much but the other way around...

EDIT: i know but disease spreads so easily but never mind now cause its too late,were going to have to introduce our 9 chickens where one is a rooster to our already established flock of 39 with one rooster....

Answer 2

You can go ahead and put them together for a supervised short period of time.  Your hen should already know how to submit... If she does submit and let him mount then great.... if not, keep them together a while longer.  I would not worry about one getting sick or the other where you have only the two birds and they are already close...  If something happens, you'll only have lost the two birds... you can hatch your own new brood later or buy new ones...  (I know that seems callous and something that you are fully aware of but it might your only option is to start over from chicks).  One hen that is not competing with other hens for a rooster's affection may require no affections at all..  sniff.

Answer 3

The best way to introduce chickens is to do it at night, when they're roosting and/or asleep. Just move the rooster in to the coop with the hen. Believe it or not, when they wake up they just kind of figure that this new bird has always been a part of the flock. There may be some pecking at first while they get to know each other. The rooster is going to want to mate with the hen....that's what they do (many times a day!) By the way, chickens like to have pals. You should always have at least two hens. They get lonely.

Answer 4

Yep, yep. Next time keep any new birds in quarentine for a couple of weeks at least. Check for creepy crawlies and dust anyway, again in 10 days, listen to it breath, check it's eyes, smell it's breath, worm it, check for black scabs that could be pox, check for raised scales that could indicate leg mites. Every day, visit and feed all your other birds first before visiting the new birds. Change your shoes and wash your hands well after.

It's ok that the cages are next to each other. If either wants to back away, they will. 6 months is an adult, so he's not so young, and I'm sure he's eager.

Get the book "The Chicken Health Handbook."