Advice on unexpected roosters in flock

[Faithm21]

So I have 6 two month old chicks. I’m fairly certain I have 2 bantam roosters and 4 standard hens. I also have three baby chicks of unknown sexes. I’m worried about my two roosters (behavior and noise level). Especially if any of my new chicks turn out to be roosters as well. Although I’m prepared to rehome those but not my two month olds. Do you think the bantam roos will be a big problem? One is fairly friendly but I’m worried he’ll start getting mean once he matures. The other is as sweet as can be and I’m not 100% sure it’s a roo but i can’t get my hopes up. Also, does anyone have any tips for keeping your roosters quiet? I’m hoping I can keep them but I live in pretty close proximity to my neighbors so they may complain

 

[aart]

Only time will tell if they can live together in peace or not,
and whether the noise level will be an issue.
I usually get rid of extra males at around 14 weeks, that's about when the trouble begins.

 

[Mrs. K]

You really can't make a plan for a rooster, not a hard and fast plan such as I will do this, or I will not do that. When you are bleeding from an attack, or a child is, it can change your perspective. If your birds are bleeding from a fight, it can change your wishes. If you are constantly being woken in the middle of the night, with a rooster crowing, well tempers will flare.

What you need to do is make a plan. Plan A, then plan B, and another plan C. and then adjust. If there were ways to raise a perfect rooster 100% time, it would be nice. Roosters are a crap shoot, some work out, and some don't. You do need more space for roosters than hens, and they will not pay any attention at all to your wish they would all be nice.

mk

 

[Faithm21]

You really can't make a plan for a rooster, not a hard and fast plan such as I will do this, or I will not do that. When you are bleeding from an attack, or a child is, it can change your perspective. If your birds are bleeding from a fight, it can change your wishes. If you are constantly being woken in the middle of the night, with a rooster crowing, well tempers will flare.

What you need to do is make a plan. Plan A, then plan B, and another plan C. and then adjust. If there were ways to raise a perfect rooster 100% time, it would be nice. Roosters are a crap shoot, some work out, and some don't. You do need more space for roosters than hens, and they will not pay any attention at all to your wish they would all be nice.

mk

I’ve heard people put their roosters in carriers at night and cover them up with a blanket to keep out light. They also put 4 in together so since mine have grown up together they will probably be ok. I will probably have to experiment with different things though. I also heard picking them up in front of the females is good. Hopefully my boys keep being friendly and I’ve been handling them even more than I already was lol!

 

[Mrs. K]

They might get along. Growing up together has really very little effect in chickens. It can work, that is plan A. Handling them works for some people, that's plan B. But you need a plan C.

 

[Faithm21]

They might get along. Growing up together has really very little effect in chickens. It can work, that is plan A. Handling them works for some people, that's plan B. But you need a plan C.

Yeah I’m going to see how it plays out and try different things to make it work. If it comes to the health of them and they’re hurting each other or the hens, one will have to go. I think they’ll be fine though since they free range except for at night

 

[tuesdaylove]

If you want to try keeping the two boys that are two months old now, one possible plan is to plan on having two separate flocks. Are you able to separate birds where you live, or do they all free-range together as one group? However many girls you end up with, you could divide them in half and give them to the boys. This is what I did with my birds, and it was easy since I'm unable to free-range where I live. I have three roosters, so I built three separate pens. Each guy has his own flock of girls.

Rooster behavior is extremely unpredictable, so you should always keep it in the back of your mind that you may have to rehome one or both of them. I had one roo who was fine for about the first year of his life, and then very suddenly turned dangerous. He's caused serious wounds on people. I've only ever had one instance of a rooster aggressively attacking a hen, and I'm not sure what the cause was. Other than that, roosters harming hens is usually in the form of over-mating, when the hens lose feathers on their backs and sometimes get wounds from the rooster grabbing on. This is usually caused from having too few hens for each rooster - he needs at least two girls of his own, but more is much better.

I don't know of any reliable way to keep them quiet. They crow all day long, every day. Mine start at 5:30 AM every day and go until sunset.

 

[Faithm21]

They free range during the day and go in the coop at night. So far I do have 4 girls and 2 boys. Not sure about my 3 new chicks though. I heard free ranging can relieve some tension since they’re free to move around wherever. I’m going to have to see how things go and act accordingly. But before rehoming I have a bunch of different ideas to try and see if anything will work. Of course I haven’t had any issues with them yet but I’m just planning for the worst. I know I bunch of people who have the tamest roosters but I also hear horror stories about roosters all the time. I guess it could go either way!

 

[aart]

They might get along. Growing up together has really very little effect in chickens. It can work, that is plan A. Handling them works for some people, that's plan B.
But you need a plan C.

Ditto Dat!!!

 

[igorsMistress]

You definitely need plan c. Boys growing up together WILL start competing for the ladies. It'll have everyone on edge until it's settled and even after that it might.