4 Roos

[pond_ripple]

My little flock of 8 has ended up being half roo and I'm having trouble rehoming the extra boys. It seems like most people around here must have already gotten all the roosters they want! So I'm trying to make a plan B just in case no one wants them.

I have heard of people setting up bachelor flocks or getting a new set of girls to go with extras. Would it be okay to break them up into two per flock since they have been raised together? I had been planning on keeping my favorite two, the big guy Johnny and little silkie Danny as they don't really seem to get into it as Danny backs down and finds somewhere else to go as soon as feathers get fluffy.The other two Australorps are about the same size as each other, a bit smaller than Johnny.

They're right at 3 months and all 4 are still getting on well enough. There are a few scuffles, but nothing serious. They all still like to settle down in the shade together in a little cuddle puddle like when they were chicks, but idk how long this tranquility will last. So I'd like to have a plan just in case. Does anybody have any suggestions?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sometimes pairs bond, and sometimes they fight. Every rooster, and set up is different.

I personally would keep one with the hens and pen the other 3 together, and hopefully they get along.

 

[pond_ripple]

So you would go the bachelor route? I am just nervous to do that because I'm so new to dealing with chickens. Do you just set them up like you would a group of hens or are there special considerations to keeping 3 roosters together?

 

[Ridgerunner]

With roosters you don't need nests in the shelter so I guess it's not a coop. That's the only difference I can think of.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

So you would go the bachelor route? I am just nervous to do that because I'm so new to dealing with chickens. Do you just set them up like you would a group of hens or are there special considerations to keeping 3 roosters together?

I have kept groups of roosters penned separately for extended periods of time. As long as they have room and places to get away if they wish they have been fine with a simple shelter and roosts.

Sometimes one makes troubles and you need to decide what to do. In a perfect world roosters would behave themselves.

Once your roosters get old enough to start harassing the pullets you will change your mind about how you feel about them.

 

[Mrs. K]

You do need a plan, a lot of plans. Plan A, B and C. I too go with the idea of one or none with the hens, boys together, that is Plan A. If the rooster with the hens becomes a jerk, then he goes in with the boys, that is Plan B. If the rooster pen becomes a cock fighting pit...you need a way to separate them and what to do with them them set up and ready to go, plan C.

Roosters are a crap shoot. A lot of roosters don't turn out. When you have got past plan C, and are ready to loose your ever loving mind, well then plan D becomes more reasonable.

Good luck.

Mrs K

 

[pond_ripple]

Well fortunately I like being prepared. It's looking like my plan A is get the boys a new home, but as I have had no offers, plan B is partitioning the back section of the large garden shed we have and making that back part a coop with poultry fencing to keep out predators from their slice of the yard. If anyone gets too rowdy I guess they will go into the main part of the shed for chicken jail until we get them another area set up. That's probably plan C.

Hopefully I can get these boys situated somehow or another without too much violence! The all boy flock sounds like it would be the ideal plan instead of trying to manage a small flock of hens for each. Thank you to everyone who commented, it makes this an easier decision!

If you have any tips for keeping roos together I would love to hear them. I'm going to look up all I can online, but hearing from a community with chicken experience is a lot more reliable than just trusting everything I read on the interwebs.

 

[pond_ripple]

Also I will probably keep Johnny with the hens just because we have hawks and vultures in our area and I've heard it's good to have a rooster to keep an eye out for that. Their coop is under a huge tree so it would be difficult for something to swoop down from on high, but I'd rather have 1 roo for safety's sake. Johnny has already established himself as the dominant one and I've even caught him getting between the girls when they try to scrap.

 

[aart]

They're right at 3 months and all 4 are still getting on well enough.

This is about when I start to plan when slaughter day will be.

 

[pond_ripple]

I'm just not the kind of person who can raise something and then kill it. I get too emotionally attached. It super weird that I can eat chicken and respect people that go that route but it would bother me to the point that I wouldn't be able to eat them. They are pets to me more than livestock even if they grow up to be jerks!