Advice needed for keeping multipe roosters

[Chicken Hound]

My flock has grown to 12, I picked up 5 chicks this spring from another chicken lover. Her flock is very divers and these where of unknown parentage. 3 are obviously at least part Brahma and they turned out to be roosters. They beautiful boys and have found a place in our hearts. They are now about 7 months old and so far have gotten along with only one known argument that was surprisingly less violent then expected. I do have a plan to double the size of the pen to 15x35, as I am sure the flock will grow again. My plan also is to increase there access to free range space and time. Since the boys have been together from hatch would this be enough to prevent fights? This is very much like the set up they came from, tho she had a larger flock. I do plan on adding more hens, most likely in the spring. My long range goal is to have a broody hen and use her to replenish the flock. I might be over thinking this but would rather have more info then less. I am still rather new to keeping chickens and how they behave.

 

[chooks4life]

Since they've grown up together the likelihood of excessive violence is very low. There's no rooster less rooster-tolerant than one who's never seen another rooster, or never had his fluffy butt handed to him. Such roosters often suffer delusions of invincibility.

Tolerance is learned, in large part, and also genetically based. Sounds like you got your birds from a stable mixed flock type of social base; this often has positive repercussions that last for generations, which should help guide things peacefully. Birds from hatchery backgrounds can exhibit repercussions of gender segregation, artificial breeding methods etc which also last for generations and cause recurring socially/behaviorally malignant issues.

If you do have any outbreak of abnormal aggression it may be worth getting rid of the perpetrator. That's how I manage violence levels in the flock, get rid of the bully not the victim, works really well. Generally my flock peaks at around 100, half male and half female, of all ages and types, all freeranging and roosting together, so peaceful relations are imperative. It's strongly heritable stuff so selecting against the nastiest is one of the easiest/only ways to obtain and maintain a calm, happy flock.

Since they're only still 'tweenagers', so to speak, there will likely be some more robust scuffles as they start to really mature; but chances are these will also be settled quickly with no damage done. Generally by the end of their first year they'll have settled into a pretty steady hierarchy, all things being equal.

Best wishes.