Adding an extra rooster.

[chickenenthusiasts5698]

I have 97 hens in my main flock with 1 Adult rooster (Hes scared of his own shadow so much so he hardly even mounts the hens) and I have 3 young cockerels who aren’t even crowing yet I want to add one more rooster to my flock (completely docile doesn’t fight other roosters) Do you see any problems from this? The 3 cockerels will be separated out soon.

 

[21hens-incharge]

All you can do is try.

 

[Mrs. K]

It might work, it might not. It might be a dust up, and settled. I do know this, how a rooster acts without other roosters is no indication of how he will act when you add roosters.

However, being as you have 100 head of chickens, more than likely you have a huge amount of space, and perhaps some experience. So having more roosters in a larger farm like flocks often times does work.

It is when people want 3-5 roosters in a 10 head set up that causes a lot of problems.

Mrs K

 

[Ab1010]

I have 5 roosters that all live together in my flock just fine plus a hen that swears she is in charge. They are a small adult flock that free range. I love roosters so I just kept adding them. Ive only had one that was so mean(lavander orpington) I had to separate and one that wasn't mean enough and everyone rejected him(silkie). Now silkie has his very own silkie coop with silkie girls and i have a bunch of different pullets in there. He's a great dad and cuddles with the babies and protects all of them. Or try lol. He's not tough. I say try. But only if you're willing to give them their own space if something goes wrong

 

[chickenenthusiasts5698]

I’m pretty hopeful. Neither roo is particularly aggressive and the one i’m wanting to add has been in a bachelor flock all year. I added him to my flock for about 10 minutes and neither rooster fought and they’re currently free ranging together.

 

[Ab1010]

I’m pretty hopeful. Neither roo is particularly aggressive and the one i’m wanting to add has been in a bachelor flock all year. I added him to my flock for about 10 minutes and neither rooster fought and they’re currently free ranging together.

Awesome! A bachelor flock works because there are no hens to fight over. Its different when you have hens. They want to be the one to breed. But you have so many hens. Experts actually suggest more roosters then what you have. So id figure two should work out! If nothing happened right away id say that's a great sign!

 

[CHlCKEN]

I have 97 hens in my main flock with 1 Adult rooster (Hes scared of his own shadow so much so he hardly even mounts the hens) and I have 3 young cockerels who aren’t even crowing yet I want to add one more rooster to my flock (completely docile doesn’t fight other roosters) Do you see any problems from this? The 3 cockerels will be separated out soon.

WOAH! That’s a HUGE flock! (And by saying it’s just your main flock... how many chickens DO you have?) I’m sure with so many hens adding another rooster wouldn’t be a problem, however I recommend that chickens be kept in flocks lower than 20 for countless reasons. Two being that it’s easier and less stressful for the birds, easier to keep track of each other and to manage a stable pecking order, and because with such a large flock things can be hard for you. But do as you wish those are just my recommendations, I’m only here wishing the best for happy healthy hens and roosters . But of course since you seem to know what your doing I would recommend you go by your best view of things and add another rooster if you see best fit.

 

[chickenenthusiasts5698]

WOAH! That’s a HUGE flock! (And by saying it’s just your main flock... how many chickens DO you have?) I’m sure with so many hens adding another rooster wouldn’t be a problem, however I recommend that chickens be kept in flocks lower than 20 for countless reasons. Two being that it’s easier and less stressful for the birds, easier to keep track of each other and to manage a stable pecking order, and because with such a large flock things can be hard for you. But do as you wish those are just my recommendations, I’m only here wishing the best for happy healthy hens and roosters . But of course since you seem to know what your doing I would recommend you go by your best view of things and add another rooster if you see best fit.

I have around 150 chickens but I also keep Guineas, Geese and Quail. I have a couple other flock that have 10-20 birds bird but my large flock is mostly for retired hens. Thank you for your suggestions I havent seen my flock be mean to each other but they free range as well so everyone gets their own space to chill out.

 

[nao57]

This is so cool! I'm happy for you to have a huge flock like this.

I'm always in the hope that other people can and successfully do have large flocks for the hope that it means all of us can get away with having more of them. It doesn't make sense to me that the limit on poultry is the same as for cats and dogs, with city ordinances.

...


But I guess for your thread question, I have to ask, how far are your neighbors? And are you on the edge or in a city?

I want to ask also how common is it for people have more than 10 birds in a city? (I am hoping that 10 to 20 can be done in the city without being noticed, by others. To me it seems you'd actually need this many if you were producing daily eggs enough for a full family living there.)

 

[Sonya9]

97 hens is a LOT and more like 3-4 flocks instead of one. From what I have read, 50 or more birds doesn't even fall under one flock "heirarchy". It will probably be fine as long as they have enough space.