3 Roosters a crowd?

[ack13]

Almost 5 months old, I have a mixed batch of 12 hens ranging from RIRs to Polish. All seem to get along fine so far.

But I have 3 roosters to boot...none intentionally. (McMurray Hatchery)
A Cuckoo Maran, VERY aggressive towards small children, no longer with the adults.
A RIR, dominant, curious, protective, but not aggressive.
And a Gold Laced Wyandotte, well built but not the top of the pecking order.

3 roosters, 12 hens. When one decides to mount a hen, at this point, the other two decide to go for it as well. I end up seeing a single girl squawking under 2-3 jostling roosters, and I'm tired of it. Will this work itself out as one of them decides that he rules to roost, or will this continue as long as there are multiple roosters? They do not do it while I'm out there, but I can see them from the garden and the windows of the house. I'm also a bit afraid that stressing the hens out will hamper egg production.

They are free- ranging now and it is a bit less of a problem, but I feel bad for the girls and protective of them. At any rate, the Cuckoo Maran is scheduled for a roast in the near future.

Is there anything I can do?

 

[FrankBlissett]

Should work out okay - especially as you'll be re-purposing one of the roos soon.

-Frank Blissett

 

[speckledhen]

You can get more hens or get rid of a rooster. Obviously, the CM has to go, as you pointed out. Keep the least people aggressive one, the friendliest toward YOU. Most roosters will be decent protectors-it's built into their genes. And there are so many wonderful, sociable, sweet roosters, no need to keep a dangerous one around, IMO. They tend to gang-chase the ladies when they are young and competing with each other. Two roos could work out if they get along, though.

 

[estpr13]

I like to free range my chickens as well but as soon as the boys start to take more than normal interest in the girls I seperate them. This is also about the time they start to crow.

Since I am living in a city, I have to keep things quiet, so.. the boys are kept in the coop seperate from the girls until breeding time. To breed them I take a roo and put him in a 3' x 4' pen outside and wait for a same breed hen to take interest then put her inside and wait for a couple of matings then remove her to protect her. I will do this for about three days, once or twice a day if I have time.

About the third day you should get fertile eggs. (The first two days the eggs are already formed and cannot get fertilized) I also give the boys greens to help keep them healthy.

I don't tolerate mean roosters. They teach other roos bad habits.