It depends on the breed. My silkie Roos are happy to share , but my slw and buff sussex will do some serious damage to each other. I lost my GLW roo to infection in the hock, a Nasty spur injury. Space is a good equalizer , the more the better. When Roos are fighting, one will hold the other down and go for the eyes. I came home one day to find that the Roos had managed to get at each other. Poor old buff sussex boy had his eyelid torn. I have found that an older roo will generally tolerate juveniles but around 8-12 months of age is when the challenges begin. Too much testosterone !Hi Guys, Great photos of all the chicks, flower (looks like water lilly) and the snake. Well done for relocating.Last year I had to relocate a record 18! My most prolific snake year. Mainly amethestynes (scrubbies), I was really lucky to not lose any chooks to snakes in 2013. Other than my deep attachment to Ollie (Head Rooster), he is so snake savvy. Over his 14 years he has lost 3 wives and a daughter to them so he is very aware & alerts me immediately. His son Whitney (meant to be a hen! thus the name.) has no idea, removed one last month that was right above his head, no idea. ROOSTER KEEPERS -I enjoyed the thread re rooster temprements. Mine are both Pekins & are gentle with hens and with me but not with each other. I need some thoughts. In order to continue Ollies line, I bred 9 chicks (Pekins) 2 years ago. 5 were roosters & sent 4 away as they had turned into bully boy gang. Kept Whitney and he had his 4 sisters as his flock. Ollie, with his 4 wives & Whitney with his 4 all free ranged happily for 18 months. Ollie would give him a brush up now and again but nothing serious. Whitney "turned" at about 18 months & really severely beat Ollie twice. I had been expecting this and had a new pen built so I could alternate them. The pens are huge so they do not need to free range but they love it and I like to see them out and about.It sounds like you some of you guys have roosters that happily co exist? Have any of you had this situation for more than 2 years? Is it the free range area? I have 2 acres but they mainly use a 1 acre area, they both have 4 hens each & seperate roosting areas. I guess I am thinking about this again as Fric and/or Frac could be roosters and I would happily have 3 or 4 roosters but not if they are actually wounding each other. I would like to hear any of your stories & see pics of co existing roosters.Thanks in advance.
