Adding 2 cockerels, thoughts?

[OklaSteve]

Hey everyone. So I am adding 2 cockerels to my flock of 14 hens. I have read the ratio should be anywhere from 5 to 10 hens per rooster. So hopefully 7 each will be about right.

I hand raised my hens a little over a year ago. After some consideration I decided to add my cockerels. They were also hand raised. Don’t know if that matters or not.

Anyway, two weeks ago I moved my cockerels out of the house and into the chicken coop. I kept them in a wire dog kennel and would still go out and spend time with them.

Last night I felt like it was finally time to move them out of the kennel and into the coop with the girls. So far it seems to be working out. A couple of the girls seem to be having a little more trouble having them loose but the rest don’t seem to mind.

So after more than enough rambling here is my question. About how long should it take for everyone to get used to each other and settle in. I know every bird is different so there’s no exact answer. But hopefully there is an average answer.

 

[OklaSteve]

I probably should have added that the girls are just over a year old and the two cockerels I am adding are both 9 weeks old.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think you are doing everything you can. They may not be real popular and take some correction from the old ladies, which in my opinion does a lot for creating proper chicken society. Do make sure you have roosts, platforms, mini walls and multiple feed stations in the run. It helps if birds can get out of sight or away from each other.

Do know that one or both of these roosters may not turn out. Roosters are a crap shoot. Some become very aggressive with hens, some roosters fight each other and some attack humans. A lot of theories on here on how to raise up roosters, but truthfully none of them are fool proof.

Rooster need more space than the recommendations for hens, IMO. Flocks with multiple roosters, tend to have large flocks covering a lot of space. I think that the more roosters you have, the greater the chance for it to go wrong. Not saying it will go wrong, but there is a real chance that it will.

If you have to remove a rooster - do not fret, 1 rooster, especially a young rooster can easily cover 14 hens. Personally I would not keep 2 roosters with less than 20- 25 birds, but it is just a personal preference.

Not all roosters are great roosters. If you have an well established flock, with a true flock master it is a joy to watch. However, one only gets a great rooster with a sharp knife, in that one culls the rotten roosters.

Good luck,

Mrs K

 

[OklaSteve]

I think you are doing everything you can. They may not be real popular and take some correction from the old ladies, which in my opinion does a lot for creating proper chicken society. Do make sure you have roosts, platforms, mini walls and multiple feed stations in the run. It helps if birds can get out of sight or away from each other.

Do know that one or both of these roosters may not turn out. Roosters are a crap shoot. Some become very aggressive with hens, some roosters fight each other and some attack humans. A lot of theories on here on how to raise up roosters, but truthfully none of them are fool proof.

Rooster need more space than the recommendations for hens, IMO. Flocks with multiple roosters, tend to have large flocks covering a lot of space. I think that the more roosters you have, the greater the chance for it to go wrong. Not saying it will go wrong, but there is a real chance that it will.

If you have to remove a rooster - do not fret, 1 rooster, especially a young rooster can easily cover 14 hens. Personally I would not keep 2 roosters with less than 20- 25 birds, but it is just a personal preference.

Not all roosters are great roosters. If you have an well established flock, with a true flock master it is a joy to watch. However, one only gets a great rooster with a sharp knife, in that one culls the rotten roosters.

Good luck,

Mrs K

Thank you for the information, it was a great read.

The coop I have them in is about 90 square feet and the run is around 5500 square feet so they have plenty of room. In the coop there is a 35 gallon waterer and 2 five gallon feeders. There are 5 roosting bars that are all at different heights with each bar being 7 feet long. There are also feeding stations and waterers outside.

So far both the boys are happy hanging out in the coop with the occasional hen coming through to do what hens do.

I have multiple security cameras around the house and coop. I think I spent most of the day yesterday just watching them all. Who needs satellite when you have chickens. However, knowing how things can happen when it comes to chickens, I stopped watching once I closed everyone up for the night. This morning I was very happy when I went out to check and they were both doing well and sitting on a perch next to each other.

I am hoping to not have to cull either one of them but the fact is I got two cockerels because of everything you mentioned.

 

[Shadrach]

A 550 square feet reads like a large area but if the cockerels don't get on it isn't going to be enough room for each to establish their own territory.
The likelyhood is one will become senior to the other. Sometimes this can run smoothly, other times they'll fight it out.
If the cockerels are related, in theory, the chances of a peacefull arranged cohabitiation are better.

The important thing to acknowledge is chickens are tribal creatures and that means territorial. You may find the only way to keep two confined roosters is to make two seperate territories by splitting the run and the hens.

For confined chickens I think the chances of keeping a peacefull group with two cockerels/roosters is slim with the area you have as a run.