2 roosters

[ChickenToni]

I have a 3 year old flock of 4 hens and 1 Salmon Favorolles rooster. I now am adding a new flock, 3 - 11 week old hens and 1 - 9 week old possibly/probably a rooster, French Copper Maran. (I have had them since they were a few days old, but I am now moving them from their brooder to the outside area). I have a large fenced in area that they are all in now during the day, and a coop with a run. In the fenced in yard, the young ones stay together, the older ones don't bother them. I sometimes find the rooster hanging out close to them and they don't mind. But if a hen comes close, they run. I had been bringing them into the brooder at night so they aren't all locked in a smaller area in the run/coop for fear of the rooster and the possible rooster fighting. I now put a divider in the run so they have spent 2 nights in the run. My concern is that 9 week old French Copper Maran. S/He hasn't scrapped with the rooster and the rooster hasn't seemed threatened by him/her. Is there an age when that will happen if he is a roo? Could it be that since there is a large yard for them, the roosters will keep their own flock and coexist? Or possibly s/he must be a hen since they haven't fought? Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A good rooster should never bother chicks. Sometimes a rooster will even adopt them or help a broody hen take care of her chicks. So yes, I can see why the chicks aren't afraid of him. Most hens aren't that dangerous either but they are more dangerous than the rooster. Occasionally you get a hen that will out and out attack the chicks. What often happens is that the chicks invade the personal space of a mature hen. She doesn't like it and will peck them to teach them that it is not polite for them to bother their social betters. She might chase them away but often it's just a peck. The chicks learn really quickly to avoid those mean old hens. Hopefully that explains a lot of their behavior.

When might you see a cockerel clash with a mature rooster? That is hard to answer. He may hit puberty in a couple of weeks, it may still be months away. Typically my roosters don't bother the cockerels until much later but I may have more room than you do. What I normally see is that the cockerels are interested in pullets their own age at first. Your pullets are a couple of weeks older, that might add some twists to it. But as long as the cockerels leave the adult hens alone my roosters aren't that bothered. When the cockerels start bothering the mature hens the mature rooster gets involved.

My immature chickens typically stay a long way away from the adults. It's possible your rooster will object to that cockerel trying to mate the pullets in his presence if they are closer.

Until the cockerel reaches a certain stage of maturity he will not challenge the rooster. He will run away. Cockerels mature at greatly different rates. Typically that's around seven months for mine but it can be a couple of months earlier or months later.

Is it possible they will coexist peacefully? With living animals anything is possible and that actually happens quite often, especially if they are raised together either as siblings or father-son as yours are. A lot depends on the personalities of the individuals and how much room they have. They will know which one is boss. That may involve fighting, it may involve chasing and running away. It could be really violent, it's possible you won't even notice. My main suggestion with that is to have a plan so you can isolate them from each other at a moments notice because the need may happen that quickly. Or the need may never arise.

At nine weeks if you can post a photo of the head showing the comb and wattles development and color, and a separate photo showing the legs, posture, and body profile we should be able to make a real good guess the sex of a Marans. Maybe we could help you relax or get your plan together.

 

[Alaskan]

A good rooster should never bother chicks. Sometimes a rooster will even adopt them or help a broody hen take care of her chicks. So yes, I can see why the chicks aren't afraid of him. Most hens aren't that dangerous either but they are more dangerous than the rooster. Occasionally you get a hen that will out and out attack the chicks. What often happens is that the chicks invade the personal space of a mature hen. She doesn't like it and will peck them to teach them that it is not polite for them to bother their social betters. She might chase them away but often it's just a peck. The chicks learn really quickly to avoid those mean old hens. Hopefully that explains a lot of their behavior.

When might you see a cockerel clash with a mature rooster? That is hard to answer. He may hit puberty in a couple of weeks, it may still be months away. Typically my roosters don't bother the cockerels until much later but I may have more room than you do. What I normally see is that the cockerels are interested in pullets their own age at first. Your pullets are a couple of weeks older, that might add some twists to it. But as long as the cockerels leave the adult hens alone my roosters aren't that bothered. When the cockerels start bothering the mature hens the mature rooster gets involved.

My immature chickens typically stay a long way away from the adults. It's possible your rooster will object to that cockerel trying to mate the pullets in his presence if they are closer.

Until the cockerel reaches a certain stage of maturity he will not challenge the rooster. He will run away. Cockerels mature at greatly different rates. Typically that's around seven months for mine but it can be a couple of months earlier or months later.

Is it possible they will coexist peacefully? With living animals anything is possible and that actually happens quite often, especially if they are raised together either as siblings or father-son as yours are. A lot depends on the personalities of the individuals and how much room they have. They will know which one is boss. That may involve fighting, it may involve chasing and running away. It could be really violent, it's possible you won't even notice. My main suggestion with that is to have a plan so you can isolate them from each other at a moments notice because the need may happen that quickly. Or the need may never arise.

At nine weeks if you can post a photo of the head showing the comb and wattles development and color, and a separate photo showing the legs, posture, and body profile we should be able to make a real good guess the sex of a Marans. Maybe we could help you relax or get your plan together.

Huge x2

 

[Mrs. K]

^^^^ Plan B - ready to go, cross your fingers and roll the dice- roosters are a crapshoot. Do get your plan B set up.

 

[ChickenToni]

OK. Thank you so much for all of the input. I am trying to load pictures and it isn't going so well. We live out in the boonies so get very slow internet so that might be it. I am still working on making it happen. The one thing I have read about Marans is that males have color in their body feathers and females are black. My French Copper Maran does have some copper like coloring on the edge of his body feathers so I am afraid he is a male. I will try and get the pictures loaded. Fingers crossed

 

[ChickenToni]

 

[Alaskan]

View attachment 2219065View attachment 2219081View attachment 2219086

Looks female to me

 

[ChickenToni]

Looks female to me

Cool. I really hope you are right! Thanks

 

[esme13]

That looks like a pullet to me as well

 

[Ridgerunner]

I also think girl.