Can my two roosters live together???

[Nikb]

We have two 6 week old cockerels and will have 6 hens total. I’ve heard that each rooster should have 8-10 hens, but with one being a bantam will I need more than that?

 

[50-45-1]

4 or 5 months from now your cockrels are more than likely going to run your pullets ragged with their teenage hormones raging. Soon after that they will start to really dislike each other to the point that sometimes results in death to the weekest.
Why exactly do you want a rooster at all?
Even your one rooster may be to much rooster for the hens you have.
a lot will depend on the space your chickens have avaliable ,, and the temperment and tolerance of the cockrels. !

 

[Nikb]

4 or 5 months from now your cockrels are more than likely going to run your pullets ragged with their teenage hormones raging. Soon after that they will start to really dislike each other to the point that sometimes results in death to the weekest.
Why exactly do you want a rooster at all?
Even your one rooster may be to much rooster for the hens you have.
a lot will depend on the space your chickens have avaliable ,, and the temperment and tolerance of the cockrels. !

I did not even consider the teenage hormone period at all, thanks for that tip. We didn’t want any roosters, but we ended up with 3. I’ve already given one back to the farm we got him from but one of the others is my daughters. She is so attached but I told her they will most likely all have to go back too. Hard facts of raising chickens...it’s not always happy situations.

 

[50-45-1]

Thats too bad, but i am glad you have the option to take them back.
i would really caution keeping a rooster if your daughter is a small child.
They quickly go from (cute little cuddly chick) to (cant turn my back on him without getting spurred) rooster.

 

[Nikb]

Great point, I do feel that hers is already on the more aggressive/bossy side. He doesn’t peck at her, yet. And he will be a large bird full grown. Just not worth the risk.

 

[AngieDawn]

Yes they can but neither will be happy and your hens will be miserable.
Been there done that

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Do you have any bantam hens?
I’ve successfully kept flocks with ratios considered impossible with no over-mating or constant fighting of the roos. For example, I’ve had 3 roos with 4 hens, 3 roos with 5 hens, and 1 roo with 3 hens. All groups were composed of different chickens. However, these were all bantam flocks. Your bantam roo shouldn’t cause a problem, but I’m not sure about your standard roo.

 

[Nikb]

The standard roo and bantam roo started fighting pretty intensely so we did give our standard roo back to the farm. He was a big guy and it was recommended for him to have a large flock of hens to reduce the chance of harming them. He was also crowing quite loudly in our quiet neighborhood. He was a wonderful rooster and we miss him terribly but know he is happier where he is. Our only bantam is the other roo, who we kept due to our smaller flock size.

 

[TSP]

I’ve had roosters in my flock, both now (restarting with chickens after years of none) and in years passed. Most recent experiment was two roos (hatchmates) and ten pullets. it worked fine for a long time, maybe 7 months of peaceful coexistence, but a few weeks ago, one of my two boys gradually turned into a jerk. He couldn’t leave the pullets alone, kept them from eating and was constantly sizing up my alpha roo, who was my pick of the 8 I raised to save for breeding. A couple of weeks ago, he got shipped off to freezer camp. I’ve had more than one roo in a flock before, I’ve also had times like this where one was all that could could stay. I think there is much to be said for the individual personalities of the animals in question. My current alpha roo is super laid back and mellow. If both were of that temperament, it probably would have worked out fine. I also didn’t want the more aggressive of the two to pass on his genes, so he had to go. The only way I find out is to try it and see what happens... sorry, not much help in that answer, but it’s all I have.

 

[birdlover2]

We have two 6 week old cockerels and will have 6 hens total. I’ve heard that each rooster should have 8-10 hens, but with one being a bantam will I need more than that?

We have 3 roosters that get along just fine with 6 hens. Before that we had 4 growing up together with only 2. Granted, they are bantams, but they seem to be just fine. It depends on the roo. If they grew up together they're more likely to get along, and if you let them fight a few times most likely a pecking order will soon emerge. Often times there's one dominant rooster in a multi-roo flock and the others are submissive. The one thing I would worry about is over-mating. 8-10 is a little high, but they need at least 3 hens each and generally more. However, if one is dominant and doesn't let the others mate then that isn't really a problem either. Seeing as you have 6 hens I would see what happens, see if they get along and if they over-mate and stress the hens. If they get along/establish a pecking order and they have enough hens to where the feathers aren't coming off their necks, I wouldn't stress about it.