Any experience with a bachelor pad with two roosters?

[SeaSea47]

I've ended up with four roosters: two barred rocks, one Cochin, and one little oddball Hamburg (and 18 hens).

The barred rocks rule the flock. One is more dominant than the other, but they seem to get along okay so far. I've seen a few standoffs, but they've never truly fought with each other, and one of them submits to the other when they have their rare little skirmishes.

The Cochin doesn't bother anyone who doesn't bother him and is very kind to me and the ladies. He's actually the chicken who doesn't mind being handled the most of all of them. I've seen the barred rock roosters and a few of the more dominant hens challenge him and he stands up for himself, but he's pretty calm and mostly minds his own business.

The little Hamburg is near the bottom of the pecking order for the entire flock. Even a couple of my Polishes peck him, and he's constantly zipping around. I feel like he'd be a lot more comfortable if I removed the two barred rocks, and I plan to remove them in the next week or two before mating begins anyway (they're about 11 weeks old).

I was going to get rid of the barred rocks, but my dad's been helping me with this new flock, and I have been telling him about how many of you keep bachelor pads, and he's really excited about this idea. I don't like to keep chickens in anything less than a group of three myself, but I want to keep the cochin with the hens, and I think the barred rocks would kill the Hamburg if they were alone with him, so he's staying with the main flock as well.

My question is has anyone had any experience just keeping two roosters together? Were there any major issues? In this situation does it sound like there would be major issues? They were raised together. They'll also have a pretty big space once we get it all set up, and there will be a fence with lots of vines growing on it (kind of jungly), plus about 50+ feet of space between them and the main flock, so they hopefully won't see them at all. We have 8 acres, so I can move them even further away if needed. Thanks!

 

[SeaSea47]

Thank you for all of your advice. I hate to separate these guys, but I just feel like four roosters in my flock of 22 is a recipe for disaster, especially with one being very dominant. Then again, I have three fully mature drakes living together pretty peacefully in my duck flock. (Let me look for some wood to knock on...) But there is a little hostility in my chicken flock, and I think taking these guys out will help with that.

They'll have a 10x16-ish run, plus a coop that has yet to be built. And they may get to free-range some if they don't become overly aggressive towards me. I could see one of them going that way. He used to try to fight my hand when I put water in the brooder during his first week.

That's a good idea putting some food and water up high for the Hamburg. Thanks! He is a flighty little guy, but no one takes him seriously.

And I do have a backup plan for the roosters. I have a neighbor who will take them. She's planning to eat them, and I guess I am okay with that if we absolutely have to, but it's a last resort. I just feel like I took them on knowing it was a possibility, so I need to do everything in my power to take care of them as long as it works for them.

 

[Alaskan]

I've ended up with four roosters: two barred rocks, one Cochin, and one little oddball Hamburg (and 18 hens).

The barred rocks rule the flock. One is more dominant than the other, but they seem to get along okay so far. I've seen a few standoffs, but they've never truly fought with each other, and one of them submits to the other when they have their rare little skirmishes.

The Cochin doesn't bother anyone who doesn't bother him and is very kind to me and the ladies. He's actually the chicken who doesn't mind being handled the most of all of them. I've seen the barred rock roosters and a few of the more dominant hens challenge him and he stands up for himself, but he's pretty calm and mostly minds his own business.

The little Hamburg is near the bottom of the pecking order for the entire flock. Even a couple of my Polishes peck him, and he's constantly zipping around. I feel like he'd be a lot more comfortable if I removed the two barred rocks, and I plan to remove them in the next week or two before mating begins anyway (they're about 11 weeks old).

I was going to get rid of the barred rocks, but my dad's been helping me with this new flock, and I have been telling him about how many of you keep bachelor pads, and he's really excited about this idea. I don't like to keep chickens in anything less than a group of three myself, but I want to keep the cochin with the hens, and I think the barred rocks would kill the Hamburg if they were alone with him, so he's staying with the main flock as well.

My question is has anyone had any experience just keeping two roosters together? Were there any major issues? In this situation does it sound like there would be major issues? They were raised together. They'll also have a pretty big space once we get it all set up, and there will be a fence with lots of vines growing on it (kind of jungly), plus about 50+ feet of space between them and the main flock, so they hopefully won't see them at all. We have 8 acres, so I can move them even further away if needed. Thanks!

It sounds to me like it will probably work just fine.

No way to know though, until you try.

I would suggest you have at least 2, if not 3 feeders and waterers in the flock with the Hamburg to make sure he is getting enough.

The Hamburg should be a great and acrobatic flier, so maybe put a feeder and waterer up on a shelf.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

@RoostersAreAwesome has tremendous experience with bachelor flocks, and some informative links.

 

[Willow2253]

I've had success with a bachelor pad of 2. I had 2 boys together for a few months before we rehomed them, they had grown up together and did great when separated from the hens. I would just suggest to have a backup plan in case it doesn't work out like you hope.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Bachelor flocks of two sometimes work and sometimes don’t. I’ve experienced both scenarios. It really depends on the individual temperaments of the roosters. If both are dominant, they tend to keep fighting each other because they can’t decide on a pecking order. If one or both roosters are more calm, they can get along just fine. A backup plan is definitely important.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

I had four roosters together (unfortunately, a fox got into their run and killed one ), now down to three. They had their skirmishes in the beginning (the 4 boys) trying to establish dominance, but now the three left get along pretty well. There is one ‘mean boy’ but I haven’t seen any blood for months (and even before then, nothing serious). And these guys are bantam/American game mixes. In my opinion, it’s worth a try - and should be successful as long as they have enough room. My run/mini coop for the three brothers is probably about 160-170 sq. ft. (the mini coop is about 3x4 ft and the run about 15x10 ft.

 

[MickWithChicks]

I have 2 bachelor pads with 2 roosters (and 1 with 3 (was 4)).

One of the two-pads has D'Uccle's which are pretty easy-going birds to begin with. The other is a wyandotte and an araucana x.

4 out of 5 of my breeding flocks have more than 1 rooster.

 

[SeaSea47]

Well, we cleared out the area where the bachelor pad will go (it had some brush growing up), so I guess we're going to give it a try. I watched them for a few hours today, and the two I want to separate had one little challenge (the more dominant one approached the less dominant one), and the less dominant one backed down quickly, so I'm hoping they will keep those dynamics once they're out of the flock. Fingers crossed! Thanks for all of the input!

 

[Alaskan]

Okay, since I last posted this, my flock has calmed down a lot. I think because they have more space and things to do now than they did before and I added more feeders and waterers. Plus, we've had great weather so they can spend more time outside.

My two dominant barred rock roosters that I wanted to move have calmed way down too. They're no longer going around pecking everyone and challenging them. But they're only three months old, so I know hormonal changes are coming.

I feel so bad moving them out of the flock now while everyone is being so friendly...but do you think I should go ahead and do it now or wait and see if they're a problem in a couple of months when they do mature?

This isn't a great picture, but I actually caught them snuggled up together this morning, so I'm hoping that's a good sign if they do end up alone in a bachelor pad together. One of them is definitely more dominant, and the other one seems to respect that right now, so it seems like a good time to move them for those reasons, but I know they're going to miss their buddies and I feel guilty about that. One of them has even taken to protecting my little hen who was getting bullied so badly a couple of weeks ago.

You could always just make sure that the extra coop area is in perfect shape... and then wait until there is a problem.