Keeping roosters together

[Stacylynnlac]

The barred rock might not be a cockerel. The hens tend to have comb and waddle too.

He’s a lighter color then my other barred rocks and the only one with a large comb. But I do hope you are right!

 

[happyfrenchman]

I think having two roosters should not be a problem at all. I have three. They have it worked out among themselves...... (although one is slated to be given to my friend). I usually always have at least two roosters. I concur, that one Barred rock looks like a hen maybe..... will know soon enough eh?

 

[bigdoodle]

Yes, if they grew up together it shouldn't be a problem. If they got into a fight, they would not really hurt each other, it would be more of a "brotherly fight"

 

[Phaedra Winters]

If they grow up together, it should be fine because they'll have established a pecking order prior to hormones by growing up together. I would be lenient in the first few months of them when the hormones kick in because there might be small skirmishes, but as long as neither is seriously injured it shouldn't be a problem. But to the hens, that ratio may or may not work, it's different with all flocks. The main thing is watching the hens and making sure they're okay. But you're off to a good start by the fact you have two roosters that are breeds known to have gentle/sweet roos and because you're trying to catch the problem early. Good luck!

I forgot to mention and it won't let me edit on my phone, but I have three roosters who all work fine together with no issues- two didn't know each other and they saw each other through a fence for awhile (they were not supposed to become a flock together, but our fence broke and they were fine so we left it down) and the other we got was raised in the flock because a friend rescued some chicks and handed the whole batch to us. They all do totally fine and take turns watching for predators.

 

[CPT]

I agree; it they grew up together, they're part of the flock. They'll probably scuffle a bit, but I think they'll be fine. You can always get more chickens for the other rooster....it usually goes by 1 rooster per 8-10 chickens.

 

[tuesdaylove]

Some people seem to have success keeping multiple roosters together. I would think if you had a proper number of hens for each rooster to claim, as well as letting them free-range (so that the roos can get away from each other), then they could possibly live together.

I have not had any long-term success keeping roosters together, but for what it's worth, I am not able to free-range. So when I had roosters living together, they were confined in the same run all the time. I first raised two roosters together from very young chicks, a booted bantam and a Cochin bantam. The Cochin bantam ended up extremely aggressive, and the booted bantam was a sweetheart, never once tried to fight. This became dangerous, however, because the Cochin would attack him anyway and the booted wouldn't defend himself. They ultimately had to be separated.

Then in 2016, I had two broods of chicks hatch just three months apart, and ended up with a grown rooster, one cockerel, then another cockerel three months younger than him -- all d'Uccle mixes. The very youngest cockerel was extremely submissive and was re-homed at around six months old, so he never got old enough to cause problems. Luckily, the father and the older cockerel are both extremely docile and they never tried to fight until the cockerel was over six months old, and pretty much grown. They never did get into a full-fledged fight, but with two males and four females in the group, I knew I'd better separate them before there was a problem.

 

[luvamyachickens]

In my attempts to hatch out my own flock, I always end up with more Roosters than hens time and time again. I've been studying the flocks behavior with so many Roosters (1 Roo to 2 Hens) and what I've paid most attention to is they have their favorite hens. Some hens resist having a Roo at all-the hen literally fights back and Roo feathers fly or the hen will just hide or place herself in a non mounting area (treelimb, etc) if they're not interested. The young Roo's get booted quickly and they seem to know their place although they are opportunistics when the dominate mating Roo goes to do his bidding with his claimed hen..then there is a charge from the young Roo. At this point I am going to separate some of the Roos to calm the flock down and let the pecking order happen. I've heard that best Roo to Hen ration is 1:7. For years my ratio has been less than that, more like 1:4 and never suffered lack of egg production or stressed out ladies but my flock of around 20 have woods and pasture and 7 acres to keep them busy. Probably their wonderful environment helps them in this smaller ratio of Roos to Hens. Also..the 2 dominant breeding Roosters get along just find. They are in constant companionship with eachother while they cruise along with their lady hens and actually I don't see much fighting among them with the younger Roos..all between the ages of 6 months to 2 years. None of them are aggressive-seriously. I have whiterocks, barred and rhode island mixes.

 

[luvamyachickens]

Yes, if they grew up together it shouldn't be a problem. If they got into a fight, they would not really hurt each other, it would be more of a "brotherly fight"

agreed

 

[Thorn Fulford]

I have never had two roosters work out living in a pen. My free range flock on an acre have about ten hens and the roosters work together like ninjas. One was slightly older

 

[TheTwoRoos]

I keep two,usually no more than two but if I get a friendly one,I will usually keep it,all chickens here are pets.Have only had one rooster actually kill another,and had two brothers make an attempt to end the other.I now have two who are managing to live freely together.A few fights in spring but nothing serious.