3 month old Buff Orpington, do we have a Roo?

[natr89]

Yes that is! Here are updated pics! Again, about 12 weeks old and hasn't made a single peep. No gobbles, no squaks (unless running from something as all chickens do) and definitely no crows.

 

[Painted Calls]

Yes that is! Here are updated pics!

Didn't need updated pics of him haha. I have a bad habit of not reading back to refresh my memory. He's a very obvious cockerel. He's likely not crowing because the other one already is.

 

[natr89]

So when should I expect to hear him crowing?

 

[Painted Calls]

So when should I expect to hear him crowing?

Whenever he's ready. Could be next week. Could be in 4 more months. There's really no hard fast answer for that. Especially when there's already a dominant cockerel.

 

[NatJ]

Alright, then my next question becomes how quickly do I need to get rid of them? I have a local farmer that supposedly takes roosters, but haven't called yet.

Can I wait until they actually crow or are they already doing harm by having 2 potential roosters among 4 hens?

I would say to get rid of them when any of these happens:

--it is a convenient time for you
--you get tired of hearing them crow
--the neighbors compain about crowing
--they pester the females too much (females missing feathers, or females hiding & acting scared)
--they fight with each other enough to cause injuries (in that case, separate them immediately, maybe putting one in a dog crate while you make the final arrangements.)

 

[natr89]

I'd feel bad getting rid of #2 before he actually crows. I know you guys are 100% confident no questions asked, but just feels like I'd always wonder lol

I have arrangements made. If we only have 1 rooster, we will probably try to keep him. If we have 2 we will get rid of both and then get 4 more chicks to round our our flock to 8 which is what my coop (pics attached) should be able to handle.

 

[ShrekDawg]

How big is the coop? It looks a little bit small for 8 full grown birds. Might be okay as babies.

 

[natr89]

Coop is 4x5. 3 nesting boxes, 2 roosting bars. The plans I used said it was rated for 6-8.

The run I did myself and it is 12ft x 7ft.

 

[NatJ]

Coop is 4x5. 3 nesting boxes, 2 roosting bars. The plans I used said it was rated for 6-8.

The run I did myself and it is 12ft x 7ft.

Where do you live? (US State, or country) The climate can make a big difference in how many chickens comfortably use a coop of that size.

A common recommendation is 4 square feet in the coop for each chicken. That assumes they will be shut in at night until you open the pop door in the morning, and that there will be some days of bad weather when they cannot go out at all. If you follow that guideline, your coop is only large enough for 5 chickens.

If your run is completely predator-proof you can leave the pop door open all the time, which lets the chickens can come out of the coop as soon as they wake up. In that case, they can often be fine with a bit less space in the coop (unless you get severe weather, or a tree falls on the run, or a predator finds a new way into the run, or something like that.)

Another common guideline is 10 square feet per chicken in the run. If you follow that guideline, your run is big enough for 8 chickens.

 

[natr89]

Ya we are in FL and the coop has an automatic door that opens at 7:15 and closes at 9:00pm. They usually go in around 8-8:30pm and come out in the morning right when the door opens. They currently spend very little time in the actual coop, but they are still just pullets/cockerels.