2 Roosters?

[HeyHeyWW]

I just found out that my "hen" (Owl) is actually a rooster. And so is my other chick who I always knew was a rooster (Goldie). Is it bad to have 2 roosters? If they are born and raised together, will they still fight? I don't want to get rid of any of them because I had them since they were born and me and my brother would hate to get rid of a chicken. I've just gotten so attached to them. If they still fight, then is it okay if I just seperate them? And since I have 2 other chicks who I HOPE are hens, what if I just give one hen to Goldie and the other to Owl so that they're not lonely? I know this is a lot of questions, I just really don't want to get rid of any of them.

 

[chickens really]

No, sorry if you have too many Cockerels they mature and possibly fight..The single pullet would get over Bred..
Lots of people separate the Cockerels into a pen and Pullets together...No Hens to fight for...

 

[rjohns39]

As a general rule of thumb, you want one roo per ten hens, but as @chickens really said, you can setup a bachelor pad for the boys and they should be fine.

 

[lazy gardener]

Agreed, if you don't remove them from your "flock", the best situation is to keep the cockerels in one pen and the pullets in an other.

 

[BantammChick]

I have 2 roosters.They do sometimes fight,most of the time Wooster runs from Peck.And they are okay with that.It will probably be okay,and not fight for at least for about a year.

 

[lazy gardener]

While they may not fight, what they most assuredly will do is overbreed the 2 pullets. 2 Cockerels will often hold down the weaker pullet and take turns breeding from one end and flogging from the other end.

 

[BantammChick]

Oh,do you only have 2 hens?That is too many roosters...you should probably have 1 rooster for 8 hens.

 

[Mrs. K]

Roosters as chicks are brave, people interpret that as being friendly and liking people. That is not the case, often times these are the roosters that become very people aggressive, they have no fear of people, no respect for people, and anything they don't respect they feel free to attack and terrorize. They seem little now, and non-threatening, but they are shortly going to be changing.

Roosters are a reality. What they do is hard to predict. I know that you are attached to them, but really a miserable flock is no fun. If you have multiple roosters, you need to set up now a way to separate them. It is hard to believe now, that they could become vicious or aggressive toward each other or towards you. But it is a very real possibility. A 4-5 ft fish net can be used to catch and subdue a bird. A separate crate to put an aggressive bird in until you can determine what your long range plan is.

I know you don't want this advice, but really it would be better to get rid of the roosters, and replace them with more hens. Especially if this is your first year with chickens. Roosters can seriously attack you. Not all of them, but a huge amount of them. You don't want to keep them if they are like that.

AArt on here says roosters are where romance meets reality.

How old are you and your brother? You might need to show this and the above advice to a parent. So they are aware too, of the potential problems you have in this current set up of two roosters and two hens. This is a fun hobby, and a lot of people do not really understand it when they start. That is what is great about a forum like this.

Mrs K

 

[MageofMist]

I have 3 boys, one rooster, one mature cockerel and... Well, Scruff who is sorta there but not quite yet. I have 9 hens which is a very small number for the amount of roosters I have, but oddly enough mine are very laid back and relaxed, probably due to them being Silkies... They don't over-mate, they rarely fight and the fights they do have only last a few seconds and do no harm. One moment they are kicking, next moment they are eating food together and snuggling.

I am a tad anxious over Scruff when he finally comes into age properly, but considering how they all get along so far, I think things will be fine. If Scruff does start stirring up trouble though, I will need to find him a home.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think you, MageofMist should be worried over the addition of scruff....silkies are much smaller birds, and even if you have a great deal of space, a third cockerel, in a small flock is pushing the envelop of luck.

Mrs K