Adult Roosters without hens, and kept together?

[midman]

We are first time chicken owners. I purchased 6 straight run chicks from Tractor Supply (Australorps), lo and behold they all are roosters, what are the odds ! They are now 24 wks old and the fighting seems to have started, we are zoned where I generally can't free-range them continuously (we let them out when we are around to watch them). The in-door coop is about 12X20, with outdoor area that is 10X10. We also, added 6 RIR (sexed hens we hope), now 16 wks old. My son is very attached to the first batch, of course they al have names, one in particular Bob, has a great personality, I swear he acts like a pet dog, he comes when you call himand he walks along with you at your heal. I'm thinking a few heads may need to roll, anythink I could maintain this situation, what does anyone think ?

 

[bobbi-j]

Six hens in with six cockerels is going to be VERY hard on those hens. Especially at the ages they're at (think teenage boys with raging hormones.) The hens will be stressed and over mated. I had a similar situation a few years ago where I had equal numbers of cockerels and pullets. When the boys hit sexual maturity (earlier than the girls), there was no peace for those pullets. They were being chased around so much they could barely eat or drink. You are the parent. Learning where one's food comes from is a valuable lesson. So is learning responsible flock management, and that sometimes we can't keep them all.

 

[Mrs. K]

Quote:
You didn't say what the ages are of your birds, and if they are in that 3-6 month range, your suggestion is how I would separate them. But I would be watching that bachelor pen, looking for a flock master to come out of it at around 7 months. With 25 hens, you could keep one to two roosters with the girls. I like a rooster with my girls, for me, it has really helped with daytime predation, good roosters are more aware of their surroundings.

Mrs K

 

[microchick]

Right now I have 4 roosters in a bachelor pen. Two are 18 months old and two are 6 months old. For the most part they get along well even though they are in sight of the main flock and occasional squabbles break out as to who gets the best spot to watch the hens during the day. The 18 month olds definitely dominate the younger birds.

There are 4 more slower maturing Buff O cockerels from a Feb hatch and 4 little boys from a June hatch that are still with the main flock. There are two mature cockerels with the main flock to protect the 17 hens and to keep the youngsters in line. I've tried to separate the 4 juveniles from the flock and move them into the bachelor pen but so far there has been too much abuse from the established 4 birds in the bachelor pen.

I'm hoping that when the youngest ones mature I can try to integrate them into the bachelor pen again. My plan is to rotate the males so everyone has a chance to 'chase' the girls every now and then and diversify the genetic pool a bit.

While I've re-homed roos in the past I personally do not butcher my extra boys either. Just my personal preference and the fact that I really like my roos.

 

[midman]

Thnx so much for the feedback. We really never intend to breed the chickens (just want egg layers). We planned all along to remove the roos, when they matured. I was hoping maybe to set up a separate coop for the boys, but only if they can get along and not kill one another.

 

[midman]

Hello all, once again thanks for the feedback. I built a bachelor coop for 5 of our six roosters (27 wks old); they seem to be doing OK, every once and awhile a squabble breaks out, but so far it rarely last more than a minute or so and one retreats. I kept the one rooster (Bob) that seemed to be attacked the most by the others guys, with our 6 RIRs which seem to be all hens, they are 19-20 wks old and no crowing (one for sure because she is laying eggs). He (Bob) seems minimally interested in going after the girls yet. The saga continues...

 

[Kimi64]

Well, I'll let you know. I'm about to embark into this journey. I now have a shed for my girls and going to put my 5 roo's in they're own pad. One each side of my back yard. I hope they all will play nice.