Building a Bachelor Coop, Should I Leave One with the Girls?

[tangled_yarn]

This spring I got a straight run of Silkies, Seramas, and a couple of Bantam Wyandottes. We have 12, 7 girls and 5 boys. We are in the process of building a bachelor pad for the boys, because they are so great I need to keep them. They're so sweet, very different from other roos we've had in the past! So far, three of them are cuddly lap cockrels, and they're gorgeous!

Anyway, on to the actual question: Should I leave one with the girls, or move them all to the frat house? I don't have a preference either way, I'm just curious about what is best.

 

[3KillerBs]

This spring I got a straight run of Silkies, Seramas, and a couple of Bantam Wyandottes. We have 12, 7 girls and 5 boys. We are in the process of building a bachelor pad for the boys, because they are so great I need to keep them. They're so sweet, very different from other roos we've had in the past! So far, three of them are cuddly lap cockrels, and they're gorgeous!

Anyway, on to the actual question: Should I leave one with the girls, or move them all to the frat house? I don't have a preference either way, I'm just curious about what is best.

There is no "best".

Do you want to hatch chicks? If yes, you'll need to choose a boy who will make a good breeder.

Do you like the idea of watching the mixed sex flock behavior?

If you try it and don't like the effect of having a rooster in the flock you will probably not be able to integrate the flock rooster back into the bachelor group.

 

[tangled_yarn]

There is no "best".

Do you want to hatch chicks? If yes, you'll need to choose a boy who will make a good breeder.

Do you like the idea of watching the mixed sex flock behavior?

If you try it and don't like the effect of having a rooster in the flock you will probably not be able to integrate the flock rooster back into the bachelor group.

Thank you! I'm not planning on chicks any time soon, so I'll probably just go with all the boys in the bachelor pad. I don't really want to have to get rid of one if I couldn't integrate him with the rest of the roosters. If I end up really wanting a roo for the girls I can always get one later.

 

[3KillerBs]

If I end up really wanting a roo for the girls I can always get one later.

At that point you could pick a lucky bachelor to win the hen lottery.

 

[tangled_yarn]

At that point you could pick a lucky bachelor to win the hen lottery.

That's true! I wish I didn't have to separate them at all, but we're either at 5 roos and 7 hens, or 6 of each (one of the silkies I'm not sure about yet). Nobody is being aggressive now, but I know it's a matter of time.