Bachelor Pad next to the hens?

[Ivy_Laura]

I am in the process of planning a "poultry palace" for my chickens and ducks. We have one rooster now, but I want to be open to the possibility of having more than one rooster in the future. (I probably couldn't bring myself to kill any chicks that turned out to be boys.) I was hoping to have a U-shaped "bachelor pad" for roosters and maybe drakes surrounding the main coop where the ladies and one rooster and one drake live. If the roosters can see the hens, but can't get to them, will they still cock fight?
I like the U-shaped idea because 1) Roosters may fight off predators that try to break into the pen and 2) I'd rather have predators take out roosters than hens.
My alternative is to have a bunch of individual bachelor pads in the U-shape where they can all see each other, but can't fight. Is that OK, or will they be too lonely?

 

[Kenya Mwangi]

Hello What's up? If you have 1 rooster or many roosters the grass along the outside of the "Hen Run" will be gone in just weeks. The rooster or many roosters will walk along the fence constantly trying to get into the hens. They will not stop unless to eat and drink and not enough. The roosters will not be healthy and have much stress and minor scraps and mosquito bites become infected from weak immune systems. Please do not make this bachelor pad.

 

[LaFleche]

It would be better to keep chickens and ducks separated from each other as their required living conditions are too different and the drakes can seriously harm and kill the chickens (females as well as males) in their attempt to mate.

A bachelor pad should be situated far away and out of sight and even better earshot of the females or else the males will be constantly fighting and even harming themselves in the attempt to join them.

 

[Mrs. K]

I hate to rain on your parade, darn it, but this is not going to work well for either you or your flock. I second the advice on splitting the ducks and chickens. And the advice on the U shaped pen not working.

As AArt says, cockerels and roosters is where the romance of having chickens meets reality. In reality, cockerels and roosters are difficult birds to own and care for, and IMO take experience. A lot of them are aggressive and should be culled from the flock. Really, if you cannot see yourself culling birds, you might consider not hatching chicks, and not having roosters.

Bachelor pads can work, sometimes for a while, sometimes for longer, and sometimes, for no apparent reason, the cock fighting will begin. They are a solution, but not a 100% solution. Add hens right next to them the bachelor pad will not be successful.

A group of rooster can be very problematic. They tend to have crowing contests, and can crow all day long. Roosters have been known to fight themselves bloody WITH a fence between them. And even when separated from hens, as in out of sight and sound, they can become aggressive to people and other birds.

In the set up you described, the predator will not just be happy with the roosters. And roosters really do not fight off predator. A good rooster (and not all of them are good roosters) are very alert to their surrounding. They identify threats, and give alarms for hens to hide, or stop moving or escape to safety. The coop is supposedly safe, so it is not an issue. In the coop, there is not rooster protection. Out free ranging, there is some, but again not 100%.

Ridgerunner, another respected poster on here, says to have the minimum number of roosters that meets your needs for the flock.

Having separate areas for each rooster, is how a lot of people manage gamefowl. I have seen barrels used as shelter, with a roost inside, and the rooster tethered to a stake in the ground. In one set up, they had the barrels set up in what reminded me of a checkerboard pattern, rows and columns evenly spaced out. This obviously keeps roosters alive, and apparently they get used to it, but it is not how I like to keep chickens.

I don't think you will be happy with what you are proposing. Always solve for peace in the flock.

Mrs K

 

[Ivy_Laura]

Thanks everyone! I'm glad I asked before I bought any materials or started building anything. The backstory on our rooster (technically still a cockerel) is that some friends in town got a chick that turned out to be a boy, which they can't have in city limits, so he came to live with us. We're not planning on breeding at this point, but I'm aware that some of my future feedstore "girls" might turn out to be boys, and I want to plan for that.
As for the crowing, it's a big part of why we took him in - I love it!

 

[wkshaddon]

So in my experience, I have 7 roosters, yes 7 lol. And I am able to keep one large rooster and 2 smaller roosters together with the girls. My other 4 are in individual fenced areas within the main chicken yard. Each morning at daylight I put up the #1 rooster, because he is chasing the girls nonstop and let out one of my older roosters out, who is more of a gentleman and just likes spending time amongst the ladies. Then around noon I will switch him out with the #1 rooster who has calmed down drastically by then. So each morning a different #2 rooster gets to spend time in the flock. And the little roosters never get messed unless they start it. It has worked out pretty well and everybody's happy. I know your thinking, well that's only 6...Patootie, my little silkie, he's a story for another day lmao. He's proved to be a danger to himself so he goes everywhere with me.