Bantam flock with multiple roosters and cockrels

[arazla]

This worked for a while 3 Marans roosters and 4 hens. Major left Oswald to look after the hens and the other rooster wandered off somewhere never to be seen again. This was Tribe 1 a long time ago. they all lived together and were all related but in what way I don't know.
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This is Tribe 2, all bantams of various mixtures. They were all related Grandfather, Father and son. No problems between the males really. Grandfather and the senior hen Bluespot wouldn't put up with any nonsense.
Number of hens varied from 3 to 7.
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That's very encouraging. Are they free roaming or in a pen? Do they all sleep in the same shed?

 

[arazla]

I have 1 LF rooster his disabled son the size of my LF hen , 3 Phoenix cockerels living with 12 hens of various ages in one divided coop. No problems so far.

That's great. How do you divide the pen?

 

[Tonyroo]

That's great. How do you divide the pen?

I used plywood to create a partition with doorways big enough for the chickens to go through on the floor level.

 

[arazla]

Do you feel that the ratio really matters? I have 4 rooster and 4 hens. They're now 16.5 weeks old and head rooster is getting aggressive with wannabees that crow out of turn. Chasing them around the pen, latching on to their wings etc. Sometimes they all take turns crowing peacefully, but I guess there's an order to it. I'm not sure whether or not to purchase more hens or whether that will cause further upheaval. Otherwise they're pretty close. Lots of affectionate pruning and nuzzling. I don't see much rivalry among the hens. Not sure if new hens would make things worse or better. Plus I don't think we could add more than 2-4 max. The shed is 6x8 and the pen is around 20x12 and occasionally we let them into a much bigger run 2-3 times per day if we're in that area.

 

[Sequoia Raven Bird Farms]

hey fluffy crow!! ffancy meeting you here!

 

[McChooky]

I enjoyed the beautiful pictures of your birds!

 

[janiedoe]

I enjoyed the beautiful pictures of your birds!

Thank you so much!

 

[McChooky]

My boys harassed my hen only flock until I locked all my chickens up and separated my older hens from the cockerels and pullets.The cockerels chased the hen only flock farther away from the coop which caused them to almost be caught by a bobcat. Lesson learned.

 

[McChooky]

I think having experienced roosters, with non-aggressive personalities, is the key to keeping the hens protected, and to training the younger cockerels.
One thing I've decided is that brahmas and oegb are my favorite roosters. It's doubtful that I'll ever have another flock, but if I did, I'd hatch those two breeds.

My hen only flock are bossy older hens who mated both cockerels after I released them. I didn't have a problem until I released the pullets that were laying age. My hens started chasing the pullets and fighting over nest boxes wouldn't lt them eat,etc. Both cockerels started chasing them away to protect the pullets initially

 

[McChooky]

My hens are in the 5 lb range and my cockerels 7 lbs max( crested creme legbars)
I had some big hens and roosters many years ago but all my chickens are relatively small (leghorns and dominique,etc)