[Dans]

Hi all,

We have a very happy cockerel leading a flock of 22 hens. He is about 3 or 4 years old now (neighbour abandoned him). Last year we had a pretty awful Light Sussex hatch (1 egg hatched and it was a cock) so we have a cockerel with his hatch mum (unrelated female who was broody). The plan was to put him in the pot but he is a good sized cock and has a very good personality so we were thinking of keeping him on. I had read that a cockerel can managed about 10 hens so our existing boy is a bit oversubscribed at the moment.

My question is how do I introduce him. They have met (through the walls of the polytunnel guessing by the rips we've discovered. With new hens I just pop them in the house after dark and make sure I am up when the pop hole opens in the morning (automatic) to make sure there's no bloodshed. Then hens range over about 2 acres during the day. Would this work with cockerels? I am a little bit terrified of them fighting and killing each other. The newcomer is about 6 months old now.

Any advice is very welcome. The main flock is currently in a 8x6 shed with 2 8ft perches.

Dans

[Fleecewife]

Hi Dans  .  Our experiences of having more than one cockerel at a time have not been good.  We have never had to introduce a new cockerel to an old cock, as ours were all hatched here except the first one.
Initially I think you will find that the old cock spends his time putting the younger one in his place by going for him.  Then as the new cockerel grows in confidence he will start to challenge the old boy and you will get some right dingdongs. The hens will transfer their affections to the new cock on the block leaving the old boy alone and humiliated.  Then the young cock will kill the older one.


Maybe that won't happen and I hope it doesn't.  I would not keep them overnight in the same house as a whole lot of fighting can go on after you've put them to bed, and before you let them out in the morning.

[SallyintNorth]

I helped out on a holding once where they had several cockerels.  All the birds were free range but there were as many houses as cocks, and each cock slept in his own house with a few ladies.  The houses were well spread out around the property.  I'm not sure whether the owners had engineered this situation or whether the cockerels and hens had worked it out for themselves.

[bj_cardiff]

Introducing a new cock is difficult, they'll fight, or at least the dominant cock will assert himself on the younger one. The best success I had is introducing the pullets to the main flock at a couple of months old, they grow up together then and the cock doesn't seem to notice the other cocks. Until they start to tread, they might fight or the more dominant cock might just chase off the other bird when he tries to mate.

I'd just put them together and see what happens, I'd be surprised if the younger cock didn't back down quickly.

[chrismahon]

We had a similar experience to Fleecewife Dans, but the older boy knocked the youngster about so much we had to make a tough decision and one had to go.


At 3 or 4 years old, dependent on the breed, your existing cock hasn't much time left anyway. I'd introduce the youngster when they are all outside and see what happens, but be prepared to remove one quickly. The youngster may not be accepted by the older hens and could end up just behaving like one. Only the top cock crows -if anyone lower does there will be a big fight. Can you split the flock?

[Marches Farmer]

I agree Fleecewife's is the most likely outcome.  It depends quite a lot on breed and temperament on both sides but I wouldn't risk it.  Can you split off the old cockerel and keep him with a couple of companion hens?  I free range my birds a breeding group at a time over the Spring and Summer.  Even then cockerels will attack each other through the wire of a run and manage to do damage to combs.

[Dans]

Thanks everyone.

Sounds like my worries are justified. Thank you all. I think he may just go into a pot and when our current cockerel passes we'll replace him. Splitting the flock would require new housing and fencing of areas and as I'm incubating a baby at the moment we're trying to keep new ventures minimal this year.

When you say at 3-4 he might not have much time left what do you mean [member=23925]chrismahon[/member] ? Do you mean he will keel over soon or just lose fertility/grip on the flock etc.

Dans

[chrismahon]

There's an old and very rough rule for cocks and hens- cocks 2-5 years and hens 5-10 (excluding hybrids).


In the case of cocks they can keel over or go infertile from 2 years upwards and at 5 years they will certainly be either infertile or insufficiently mobile to tread the hens.

[Clarebelle]

I'm sure 2-5 years is probably about right, we tend to rotate out cockerels every few years, mostly just to bring new blood in or to replace a cockerel with an undesirable trait. However, my in-laws moved to a farmhouse in wales 13 years ago where there was an abandoned cockerel who they named Lester. He has been replaced as the top cock in the last two years by a young upstart. He now runs separately with a few hens of his own and is still capable of doing what needs to be done 

[in the hills]

We've run up to 7 cockerel's at a time with a flock of hens.


There were enough houses for the cockerels to have a house each if they chose but some of the Pekin cockerels  chose to live together.


There would be a bit of handbags at dawn during early Spring but then by and large they settled back down.


I think the problem will be from the fact that they've been separated until now .... Just when the young bird is maturing and when they are full of beans with Spring arriving.


Ours were hatched here and always seemed to sort out the pecking order early on as they free ranged together in the day.

[in the hills]

Just lost our old Rhodie cockerel at 8 years old.