I often get email questions from readers, and new poultry owners who find me through sites like BackyardChickens.com.  I thought it might be fun to sometimes share the questions I receive as well as the answers I give in a new category called Questions & Answers.

Question:

“… this spring we ordered a big group of chicks from a hatchery to add to our flock.  We were supposed to get only pullets, but it appears that we managed to acquire a few cockerels too.  In fact, there are 3 new little boys who have recently started to crow.  I’m concerned that our main rooster will hurt them, and it’s time to start introducing the new ones to the flock so they can begin living together before winter!  Is it hopeless?  Will I have to try and find homes for these 3 little guys, who are adorable, or is it possible that maybe they could just live with the group?  The original flock is Big Daddy and 6 Buff Orpington hens, and the new chicks are Black Australorps, if that makes a difference.  Thanks for ANY advice you can give.”

Answer:

Dear Reader,

It sounds like you have quite the flock going on there now!  I first want to reassure you that nearly anything is possible with a little patience and hard work.  You didn’t mention the living conditions, which will likely make a BIG difference on the success or failure of merging 3 smaller breed cockerels with a large dominant adult Rooster.   If they live in confinement all the time, aka in a coop & fenced run, it will be very difficult, for them all to get along happily.   In a free range environment with all the space they could want, and a small group of chickens don’t require much more than half an acre or so of roaming space, they would do wonderfully.  You will probably want to try and find new homes for the new Black Australorp cockerels unless you do have the space they’ll need to work this out on their own.  It’s quite possible that what you’ll find is that the Australorps, male & female, will flock together and the older group will flock their own way.    We have several flocks ranging together each with a rooster or 2.  Chickens are good about establishing the pecking order and once that happens, the only time there is any trouble, is when someone gets too big for their britches, er um, tail feathers!

Good luck and please let me know if I can help.
Sincerely,
Dawn Suiter