Caging the Roosters

[AdairLynn79]

Hello! I have two sets of chickens that I hatched. One batch the end of June and the other in July. I recently separated all the roosters we are going to butcher from the rest of the flock. There are still two roosters with my hens but now they will not free range like they did before. They just hang around the chicken run where the roosters are.

When does the flock start to accept the younger chickens? The babies of the bunch that were born in July are kind of scared of all the older ones. They have enough room to get away from the bigger ones.

I’m just worried I did the wrong thing by caging all the roosters. I worry the younger chickens won’t stay with the flock when they free range because they are afraid of the older chickens.
Pictured: my younger flock includes Barred Rock, Sapphire Gems, Dominque and EE
Also pictured are the two roosters I am keeping Frank the EE and Henry the RIR

 

[Acre4Me]

Females get accepted once they begin to lay eggs. Males get accepted once they hit puberty and begin to mate and take charge of the flock. Of course, there is usually an annoying hormonal teen stage where the males mount every female in sight, and chase them etc. however, since light is getting less each day, winter is coming, that usually reduces the hormonal intensity. The two may fight for dominance, or one will keep to the shadows to stay out of trouble. They may also gang up on some of the females to repeatedly mate, so make sure there are places for them to get out of sight.