Male Bird Compatibility?

[TSW99]

Well I ordered me a pair of runner ducks one male and one female and I'm raising them up with my chicks that I hatched my question is will my adult rooster get along with male duck (Drake I think?) When he grows up? And with hatching some of my own birds Im bound to have a couple more roosters will this combination work or do I need to get rid of some of the new cockerals?

 

[TSW99]

Oh and I forgot to mention my adult chickens were raised with two female ducks so they are used to ducks but not male ducks

 

[LanceTN]

You'll need to cull cockerels eventually. Though they should get to grow to full size before that's necessary so you get meat off then.

 

[Free Feather]

I disagree. I have multiple cockerels in together with rarely a disagreement between them. They are not a year old yet so maybe I will have problems later on. As for the ducks, my cockerels do not really bother them. I had one cockerel who would peck a duck out of the way sometimes, but he was eaten by a fox. The drakes and cockerels are good together, though.

 

[LanceTN]

Many factors influence how well cockerels will get along. Breed, age, and how many hens in the flock influence this.

However none of this matters, he's hatching more birds. So regardless of any influencing factor he is guaranteed to reach the point at which he has too many cockerels.

 

[Free Feather]

She/He could just have a separate coop for all the cockerels. It is more expensive than killing the boys, but I am assuming this person cares about their birds.

 

[LanceTN]

You just want a bunch of pet roosters living to old age?

I guess if that's what floats your boat but it seems pretty foolish to me.

 

[Free Feather]

How is that foolish? Did you kill your mother when she got older, or will you?

 

[TSW99]

well I will see how they all get along I don't know if I will cull any but the rooster that I bred has scissor beak and I probably shouldn't have bred him. that brings up another question is scissor beak carried through genetics

 

[Mrs. K]

Free Feather - there are many types of chicken keepers on this thread. Some do not cull anything, but for the rest of us, it is a common practice. A good life is mercifully ended as needed. Animals may be kept alive, but miserable to over crowding, lack of feed or other issues. You perhaps have been lucky with your rooster pen so far, sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't and the fighting can be wicked and ugly.

It is not foolish to keep animals healthy, vigorous and well cared for, and then to process the birds. It keeps our flocks a manageable size.

It has nothing to do with our mothers.

Mrs K