BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[CanadianBuckeye]

I need some advice regarding rooster housing. I have no experience with rooster management.
I have nine cockerels left, three are ready to be culled anytime. One keeper is a pure dark cornish, one is a Buckeye/Production red cross, one is a Buckeye, and the other 3 are Buckeye/Cornish cross roosters.
The eight other roosters dislike the Cornish, and I had to remove him from the rooster pen, I was a bit worried for his safety. For now he's out with the hens. The other roosters are still happy together in their bachelor pad pen, two hundred feet of fencing in the woods among the trees, and their giant coop for night time.
My plan is, I want to rotate the roosters so that they each have a day out with the hens, so they learn manners. I'll put one rooster out at a time, and put him back with the boys at night. I figure that they won't forget each other after one day.
If the roosters continue to get along, they can stay together, but I anticipate that I'll probably have to separate them when they get older (they are 5 months) and I already need a pen for my Cornish because obviously he can't stay with the hens 24/7 once I start putting the other roosters out and he can't be in the rooster pen either.

My question is, how much room does a rooster need? Will a 4'x3'x 4'tall indoor enclosure (with a roost, feed and water) be enough for each rooster, given that they will spend occasional time outside with the hens? I can fit six of these into my coop. I don't think they will like being alone, hopefully that's not cruel and unusual punishment, but if they don't get along I see no other option. They will be able to hear the other roosters but not see them as I plan to put plywood between them to discourage fighting. I can put each rooster in the bachelor pen, alone, in between the time he spends with the hens. So with this system each rooster will spend two days a week outdoors....... not great but maybe enough?


As of today, only the Cornish needs a separate pen. So far so good, the others are getting along. Winter's coming and I have to make plans.
Any thoughts? What should I be preparing for?

 

[ocap]

Any thoughts?

I have four chicken tractors that are 50 square feet each, each one has an end that has a solid roof and three solid sides, that end is pointed north for the winter, there is a wooden roost wide enough for five chickens, each tractor has a rooster for the winter, the hens and pullets are in three runs that do not move, when hatching season begins I can put four hens in each tractor or put a rooster in each of the permanent runs. does that make sense?

 

[Kev]

I don't agree they need to learn manners- it is largely instinct plus a bit of age factor- mature virgin roosters will do all the roosterly things when a virgin cockerel is more likely to be still immature in instinct and make mistakes with the hens.

I would recommend simply keeping all bachelors together 24/7 if they continue to get along well until you are ready to start collecting eggs(in the spring time?) for hatching. By then the cockerels should be mature in their instincts and be ready with the hens right away.

The only possible issue is the hens might be afraid or shy, however again a good rooster will deal with that well- courting them like mad until they are comfortable with him. It does not matter if they had rooster exposure or not- hens can and do react the same towards a new rooster even if they had another rooster with them the whole time.

On the other hand, some of the hens- especially in full lay hens may be so excited they run up to him, checking out and squatting in front of him.

I've had roosters separated from hens for more than a year, on introduction they acted like they were supposed to do. Granted, they get extremely excited but still they try to show the hens what studs they are.

It probably is a little mean to the roosters to rotate them once a day, and you'd be surprised how sometimes a day makes a difference in the dynamics.. especially if the returning rooster got hopped up from the day with the hens and is all cocky/not behaving like usual which may set off some reactions in a group setting.

if the cornish was the only one with problems, I personally would have considered leaving him with the hens if separate quarters for him was not readily available. with the rest in the bachelor pad. Obviously he would have to be removed 2-3 weeks before you want to collect eggs sired by another rooster.

as for separating the bachelor roosters to individual pens.. I can't comment as your climate is way different than mine.. one thing you can do- if necessary, make a visual barrier along the bottoms with wire above so they are still able to see each other while on the perches. Don't have the perches lined up, so they can't fight while on the perches.

 

[GabrielBane]

An update on the chick w/ compound fx wing.
The week this happened I was swamped at work and not feeling well, so had decided not to do anything to repair it, just wait until the little one got ill and cull. But it never got sick, it has continued to thrive. The long intact bone has disappeared the short jagged one is still there, no infection or problems. Here are some pics from a few minutes ago.

What a precious baby NN!!

I hope the little one continues to thrive! I do love the barring on them.

Such a shame about the wing.

 

[DesertChic]

I need some advice regarding rooster housing. I have no experience with rooster management.
I have nine cockerels left, three are ready to be culled anytime. One keeper is a pure dark cornish, one is a Buckeye/Production red cross, one is a Buckeye, and the other 3 are Buckeye/Cornish cross roosters.
The eight other roosters dislike the Cornish, and I had to remove him from the rooster pen, I was a bit worried for his safety. For now he's out with the hens. The other roosters are still happy together in their bachelor pad pen, two hundred feet of fencing in the woods among the trees, and their giant coop for night time.
My plan is, I want to rotate the roosters so that they each have a day out with the hens, so they learn manners. I'll put one rooster out at a time, and put him back with the boys at night. I figure that they won't forget each other after one day.
If the roosters continue to get along, they can stay together, but I anticipate that I'll probably have to separate them when they get older (they are 5 months) and I already need a pen for my Cornish because obviously he can't stay with the hens 24/7 once I start putting the other roosters out and he can't be in the rooster pen either.

My question is, how much room does a rooster need? Will a 4'x3'x 4'tall indoor enclosure (with a roost, feed and water) be enough for each rooster, given that they will spend occasional time outside with the hens? I can fit six of these into my coop. I don't think they will like being alone, hopefully that's not cruel and unusual punishment, but if they don't get along I see no other option. They will be able to hear the other roosters but not see them as I plan to put plywood between them to discourage fighting. I can put each rooster in the bachelor pen, alone, in between the time he spends with the hens. So with this system each rooster will spend two days a week outdoors....... not great but maybe enough?


As of today, only the Cornish needs a separate pen. So far so good, the others are getting along. Winter's coming and I have to make plans.

Any thoughts? What should I be preparing for?

Well, I had ten cockerels/rooster living at night in a 4' x 5' x 6' coop with two roosts the length of the coop placed inside an 8' x 20' run and rarely had problems. I had 3 rooster in an 8' x 10' cage and they became best buddies. I also had one cockerel free ranging on 1/2 an acre with my other birds, hens and roosters, and he continuously tormented and assaulted his father, and only his father. It really does depend a great deal upon their personalities. Just keep in mind that the longer one of the boys is separated from the rest of them, the more aggressive they will be with him when he returns, and even after only two days, they can be quite aggressive. (Don't let anyone tell you otherwise...roosters are jealous creatures.)

 

[DesertChic]

An update on the chick w/ compound fx wing.
The week this happened I was swamped at work and not feeling well, so had decided not to do anything to repair it, just wait until the little one got ill and cull. But it never got sick, it has continued to thrive. The long intact bone has disappeared the short jagged one is still there, no infection or problems. Here are some pics from a few minutes ago.

This is simply amazing! There's no way I would've known to do what you did...and to see that little bird continuing to heal and thrive....chickens really are amazing creatures.
And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the chick all the way on the right in the bottom photo.

 

[bnjrob]

I need some advice regarding rooster housing. I have no experience with rooster management.
I have nine cockerels left, three are ready to be culled anytime. One keeper is a pure dark cornish, one is a Buckeye/Production red cross, one is a Buckeye, and the other 3 are Buckeye/Cornish cross roosters.
The eight other roosters dislike the Cornish, and I had to remove him from the rooster pen, I was a bit worried for his safety. For now he's out with the hens. The other roosters are still happy together in their bachelor pad pen, two hundred feet of fencing in the woods among the trees, and their giant coop for night time.
My plan is, I want to rotate the roosters so that they each have a day out with the hens, so they learn manners. I'll put one rooster out at a time, and put him back with the boys at night. I figure that they won't forget each other after one day.
If the roosters continue to get along, they can stay together, but I anticipate that I'll probably have to separate them when they get older (they are 5 months) and I already need a pen for my Cornish because obviously he can't stay with the hens 24/7 once I start putting the other roosters out and he can't be in the rooster pen either.

My question is, how much room does a rooster need? Will a 4'x3'x 4'tall indoor enclosure (with a roost, feed and water) be enough for each rooster, given that they will spend occasional time outside with the hens? I can fit six of these into my coop. I don't think they will like being alone, hopefully that's not cruel and unusual punishment, but if they don't get along I see no other option. They will be able to hear the other roosters but not see them as I plan to put plywood between them to discourage fighting. I can put each rooster in the bachelor pen, alone, in between the time he spends with the hens. So with this system each rooster will spend two days a week outdoors....... not great but maybe enough?


As of today, only the Cornish needs a separate pen. So far so good, the others are getting along. Winter's coming and I have to make plans.

Any thoughts? What should I be preparing for?

It's really about what works for you and what works with the birds. I've got some males that cannot get along with another male, even when they are in bachelor quarters. I don't bother taking any of them out and putting them with hens periodically. That's more work than I want to do, and has not been necessary. I've never had one that didn't know what he was supposed to do when he got tossed into a breeding pen with hens. I have had problems with males that were taken out of bachelor quarters and then put back in - even after just a few hours, the hierarchy had changed and things got ugly when the one male was returned to his group. I don't like to be moving birds in and out of the group unless he is going to be going to do a real job. When I do need to move a male back into a bachelor group, then I try to move all of the birds - I like to do a little chicken-basket-upset and move everyone after dark to an entirely new house. That way, it is a whole new environment and they wake up next to each other and have to go back through the pecking order fights again. But it's with everybody, rather than just one bird that is getting picked on.

The size of the single pens you mention may or may not work - depends on your birds. Our roosters like their space so our single rooster houses are 4x8. If you have more mellow roosters, a smaller space may work. Our roosters are in separate houses that do not share walls, so I don't prevent them from seeing each other since they can't fight through wire. It will likely depend on your birds personalities as to whether or not they will be ok in a smaller space and not be able to see other birds.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Thanks everyone for responding to my questions about cockerel management. I will keep the cockerels together then in their roomy bachelor pen and coop, and keep the cornish with the hens and only remove him at breeding time. This will save me a lot of work!

Hopefully the boys will continue to get along. But if not now I have some single pen ideas, and good idea about staggering the roosts, I had not thought of that.

 

[ocap]

Thanks everyone for responding to my questions about cockerel management. I will keep the cockerels together then in their roomy bachelor pen and coop, and keep the cornish with the hens and only remove him at breeding time. This will save me a lot of work!

Hopefully the boys will continue to get along. But if not now I have some single pen ideas, and good idea about staggering the roosts, I had not thought of that.

I do not remember how much time is needed for your Cornish to have "zero" chance of fertilizing the eggs.

 

[3riverschick]

HI Folks,
If a soon-to-be poultry owner named Frohan007 shows up. Please advise him/her. I met Frohan over on the raising chicks forum.. Frohan is new in FFA and soon getting 25 broilers to raise for show. I explained all the neat folk here with broiler and show experience and recommended Frohan come on over and meet ya'll.
Best Regards,
Karen