6 month old flock Rooster's or Hen's?

[Juliesflock]

I would separate the two pullets from the cockerels if they were mine.

Then wouldn't I have to worry about the boy's being raped constantly?
I was thinking about removing Bubba but it sounds that once Bubba is removed then the rooster's will start fighting whereas they are relatively nice to each other now and nice to the girls. I have more pullets growing. Should I make my current girl's suffer? I am thinking about a separation gate. This is getting frustrating.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

As @JustBabyMargo said, these are your only pullets.

I try not to be judgmental without knowing the full story but I'm going to be a bit harsh. You absolutely need to rehome at least three (and four would probably be smarter) of your cockerels. It is at the very least neglectful to all of your flock and perhaps even abusive to allow this ratio of birds. Roosters should ideally have about 10(!) hens a piece. You either need about 38 more hens ASAP or rehome all your boys. It isn't fair to their quality of life. Your hen is hiding on the roost because she would get injured and could even get killed because you have such a large number of roosters with only two hens. I advise you as soon as possible to separate out your cockerels and pullets. That will minimize conflict between the cockerels so they aren't fighting over girls and give your poor pullets a better quality of life. To be completely honest, my heart breaks for your girls. It will make your chicken keeping experience less stressful in my opinion to keep a female-only flock. To keep a rooster you have to have planning and vigilance and if you're unprepared, you wind up with situations like your own. I'm sorry for being stern but the with the age of these birds and your problems you've explained, this is not just a question of what gender they are and move on. This is down to the wire, separate and rehome now.

 

[Juliesflock]

As @JustBabyMargo said, these are your only pullets.

View attachment 3126364

I try not to be judgmental without knowing the full story but I'm going to be a bit harsh. You absolutely need to rehome at least three (and four would probably be smarter) of your cockerels. It is at the very least neglectful to all of your flock and perhaps even abusive to allow this ratio of birds. Roosters should ideally have about 10(!) hens a piece. You either need about 38 more hens ASAP or rehome all your boys. It isn't fair to their quality of life. Your hen is hiding on the roost because she would get injured and could even get killed because you have such a large number of roosters with only two hens. I advise you as soon as possible to separate out your cockerels and pullets. That will minimize conflict between the cockerels so they aren't fighting over girls and give your poor pullets a better quality of life. To be completely honest, my heart breaks for your girls. It will make your chicken keeping experience less stressful in my opinion to keep a female-only flock. To keep a rooster you have to have planning and vigilance and if you're unprepared, you wind up with situations like your own. I'm sorry for being stern but the with the age of these birds and your problems you've explained, this is not just a question of what gender they are and move on. This is down to the wire, separate and rehome now.

Since this behavior has just started. Day's. I have to say that is why I am asking the questions. If I rehome all my rooster's then that defeats the purpose of being sustainable so your comment does not make sense, nor your extreme concern over a situation I have been managing by removing Bubba and watching their reactions. None of my birds have bled yet, nor do I watch without correcting and moving them around. I am the dominant of them all. Bubba is actually gentle enough to have 6 week old pullets near him without pecking them.
I find that his hormones may have the better of him right now and if he can be king Rooster without acting out sexually may not be possible. He's beautiful. I turned, held each of these eggs and birthed all of them. I have held and nurtured everyone of them individually and they will all eat out of my hand and they trust to stand and walk under my feet.
I was under the impression that Bubba is unstable and inbred, hence reacting badly because he has Always been food motivated. He is my first born also. He has always pushed everyone else out of the way to eat. Whereas they all have their own personalities.
I have seen flocks of 20 with multiple rooster's and their own female of one or two. Have you seen Cog Hill on YouTube. That little girl has hand raised her flock, nurtured them and they have their own little clicks. I like that. I don't just lock my birds up and not interact with them. I just came to ask questions and give my honest experience hoping to understand. Your comment came from your heart but it's not nice to accuse people of being abusive and cruel when they seek understanding and wisdom.

I would love to keep all my rooster's, nuture verses nature doesn't seem to apply for most chicken's. So I will be making any decisions on what I do next with my chicken's which are my pet's and say that you need to be kinder with your accusations with new momma's and daddy's.

 

[Painted Calls]

How long have you had chickens?

 

[Juliesflock]

How long have you had chickens?

Do I get to include the day's it took to incubate . If not, official as of today, six months.

 

[Painted Calls]

I personally have had them for 15 plus years. I'm sure Rhodebar has had them for at least 10.

When we tell you that you need to either separate the pullets or get rid of them/all the cockerels - we know what we're talking about. We have seen the aftermath of that equation. Over and over in real life and on the forum.

Your cockerels are not at their prime yet. When they hit that big surge of hormones, they will kill or at the very least, maime those pullets. You need to sort that out before they get overbred to the point of big open wounds and bald heads/backs. This isn't being rude, harsh, or nasty. It's us knowing what happens and showing concern for your animals. It's us trying to guide you as a newbie. A lot of us had to learn from experience. We don't want you to have to go through what we know happens.

 

[Finnie]

I don’t think you are abusive or cruel. I just think you didn’t realize just how many males you actually have. You could solve your problem pretty easily by keeping a male only pen and a female only pen. Then when the females are fully mature, you could put your favorite, kindest rooster in with them if you want to be able to hatch chicks. Choose the one with the best personality because he will pass that on.

You mentioned sustainability. To me that means raising them for eggs and meat, not for pets. Your male only pen could be your source of meat.

 

[LizGio]

You need to separate them for the sake of your girls. They will be violently tag-teamed by your boys if you don't. That's the nature of chickens. You don't need to get rid of them but you NEED TO separate them. Obviously, there's no question you love them. Be proactive in this situation. It would be extremely painful to learn the hard way.

 

[Juliesflock]

I personally have had them for 15 plus years. I'm sure Rhodebar has had them for at least 10.

When we tell you that you need to either separate the pullets or get rid of them/all the cockerels - we know what we're talking about. We have seen the aftermath of that equation. Over and over in real life and on the forum.

Your cockerels are not at their prime yet. When they hit that big surge of hormones, they will kill or at the very least, maime those pullets. You need to sort that out before they get overbred to the point of big open wounds and bald heads/backs. This isn't being rude, harsh, or nasty. It's us knowing what happens and showing concern for your animals. It's us trying to guide you as a newbie. A lot of us had to learn from experience. We don't want you to have to go through what we know happens.

I understand, choosing which one to keep is done. I will be rehoming them today or tomorrow. Fortunately for me Bubba has kept all the other rooster's in line and none are challenging him. None of the female's show any balding or mark's. This situation has just begun and it won't continue.
Being told the behavior of chicken and how a rooster comes into his own helps to understand the dynamics.
But, I guess there will always be the not knowing the situation and assumptions from people having done, accepted exactly what they accuse other's of doing themselves. If a person has waited for a female hen to be bloodied with holes and torn out feather's then they are idiot's and abusive. I am appreciative when people express what can happen, warned even. But don't tell me I am abusive and criminal and too ignorant to own chicken's, male or female. That is unfair and placing their own insecurities and actions onto other's. Having large flocks of chicken's obviously has it's challenges and I am grateful for the information.

 

[Chicalina]

I agree to separate out the males and females. It's the right thing to do for all of them.
I wouldn't keep the most dominant male either. I would keep the nicest natured one. Calm and kind to humans and hens.

Dominant males will more likely turn on you than less dominant ones. You need to reduce aggression in the flock not encourage it. Esp if you want to breed.

A rooster should be a calm gentleman, not a screeching bully.

If you want to keep them all, have two pens. Bubba will do just fine without hens.

Your hens will waste away if they can't get to food and water without being terrorised. Think of them like 12 year old girls held captive with 18 year old sex obsessed men. That's how it is for them now, as they mature slower.

I totally get how you feel about the boys. I'm the same. But I rehome my extras and it is the right thing to do. Someone here said that you always should make decisions for peace in the flock, and that is proper wisdom. I think it was @Mrs. K