Bringing up young roos among established older roos.

[Kuntry Klucker]

Hi All,

I have a broody hen that is hatching some chicks for me.

I have never hand raised my own chicks starting from hatch.

I have one roo, who is a good roo with a wonderful personality.

I was wondering should some of the chicks be roos and Roy (the roo)
being an established roo would there be much problem with fighting among
the boys?

Your experiences and thoughts please...

I am not too sure what to expect since I am a first timer at this.

Thanks

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Is anyone out there in Chicken Land?

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Although things can be a little unpredictable with more than one rooster around, there is a good chance that younger cockerels raised in the flock will accept Roy Rooster as the Alpha quite easily and wont pick a fight. Roy may not really need to kick their butts to keep them in line. You would not really know how they will behave until the testosterone levels rise around 20 weeks old or so. Roy may not let the other guys mate (which would mean less stress for the hens if the young roos are sufficiently intimidated.) Hopefully you have enough space for the younger ones to get away when they back down from a fight. Also, roosters raised in the same brood can get along. We hatched eggs and got half roos. Our older rooster was accepted as the boss, but because he was a smaller breed he did not enforce the no mating rule. The hens were chased too much and got bare backs, so we built a bachelor coop.

 

[Stephanie739]

Scratch n Peck stated my opinion very well!! I have several roosters. They don't fight. My only problem is that they are a little much on the girls...To deal with that, I just keep some of the roos out of the run, free range. They stay close by the flock, separated only by the fence.

Although things can be a little unpredictable with more than one rooster around, there is a good chance that younger cockerels raised in the flock will accept Roy Rooster as the Alpha quite easily and wont pick a fight. Roy may not really need to kick their butts to keep them in line. You would not really know how they will behave until the testosterone levels rise around 20 weeks old or so. Roy may not let the other guys mate (which would mean less stress for the hens if the young roos are sufficiently intimidated.) Hopefully you have enough space for the younger ones to get away when they back down from a fight. Also, roosters raised in the same brood can get along. We hatched eggs and got half roos. Our older rooster was accepted as the boss, but because he was a smaller breed he did not enforce the no mating rule. The hens were chased too much and got bare backs, so we built a bachelor coop.

 

[Reggie's coop]

Hi,

Unfortunately there will be fighting between the roo's. I read that when the young roo's become sexually active which is about 5 months old thats when the fighting would start. The only way I can think of preventing this besides getting rid of them is to give them lots of space to run around in.
But until then the chicks and roo should be fine together.

 

[teach1rusl]

As Scratch kind of hinted at, the more space you have available for them, the better chance they have at getting along. If you free range, then all the better. Too many roos will be a big issue with your hens though, so you'll most likely have to deal with things if you end up with 50% cockerels.
Earl is our head roo - he's four. I added a 2nd roo (cockerel actually - John Urban) in February. They're in different coops/runs, but they free range together and do fine. They've chest bumped a few times (when the newbie was coming into his own), but nothing more than that. Earl is king.
Then, in May, I added another cockerel, Cap'n Jack. He's in the same run as John Urban, and has done well, because he came with his own little harem of two pullets. When they free range, the groups stay pretty close to one another, but in their separate little groups. I just had three chicks hatch about 6 weeks ago, and one is a cockerel. So far all is well, with the three boys sharing the one run, and all four together when they range. I will say that mine are milder breeds (d'uccle and seramas), and I do think that plays a part too.
I completely agree that cockerels raised as chicks with a group stand a much better chance of living in harmony with other roos.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Thanks so much for you info. In your bachelor coop did the roos get along?

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

As Scratch kind of hinted at, the more space you have available for them, the better chance they have at getting along. If you free range, then all the better. Too many roos will be a big issue with your hens though, so you'll most likely have to deal with things if you end up with 50% cockerels.
Earl is our head roo - he's four. I added a 2nd roo (cockerel actually - John Urban) in February. They're in different coops/runs, but they free range together and do fine. They've chest bumped a few times (when the newbie was coming into his own), but nothing more than that. Earl is king.
Then, in May, I added another cockerel, Cap'n Jack. He's in the same run as John Urban, and has done well, because he came with his own little harem of two pullets. When they free range, the groups stay pretty close to one another, but in their separate little groups. I just had three chicks hatch about 6 weeks ago, and one is a cockerel. So far all is well, with the three boys sharing the one run, and all four together when they range. I will say that mine are milder breeds (d'uccle and seramas), and I do think that plays a part too.
I completely agree that cockerels raised as chicks with a group stand a much better chance of living in harmony with other roos.

Ok, thank you so much for the info. I will just have to wait and see what I have. The chicks are only a few days old right now
so I have no idea what I have yet. Thanks again.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

The bachelors get along. Every now and then something will get into them and they will chest bump, but they have never hurt each other.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

The bachelors get along. Every now and then something will get into them and they will chest bump, but they have never hurt each other.

That is good to know. They were raised in the same clutch right? How many do you have in your bachelor pen?

I am looking to have two in my pen with the ladies. Roy my elder roo and I will keep one of the other roos that
I am sure will come along in the clutch that is hatching this week. I free range my flock in my backyard so Roy
could use some assistance.

Thanks Again for your post