Calling All Chicken Experts, I have a FEW questions...

[lisathenorth]

Hello fellow peepers,
I have a few chicken questions...
1) Can roosters be mixed together?
*I have noticed that as long as the chicks are under the age of about 3 months that I can mix everyone together, but when I tried to introduce a couple of 4 month old roosters together, the fights broke out.
2) If roosters are raised together, are they life long buddys?
3) Do hens and roosters pair off together according to breed? Or will one dominant rooster breed with all willing hens regardless of breed?
3) Within a flock is there such a thing as a hen and a rooster only interested in each other?
4) How old do hens and roosters get before they are too old to produce off spring?
5)Can a banty rooster successfully mate with a standard hen?
AND
A duck question...
How old do muscovy ducks have to be before they start to get a mask?
Thanks for your help...

 

[greyhorsewoman]

I'll give this a try for ya!

1) Can roosters be mixed together?

Yes and no. How big is your coop? Roosters vie for their spot. If your coop/run is enclosed, you will probably have some serious fights introducing a new roo into that space. We freerange some of our chickens and have released additional roos and they can evade the fighting if it gets too intense and, generally, have settled disputes without too much blood. In our coop there is one roo and I wouldn't even TRY to add a second.

2) If roosters are raised together, are they life long buddys?

Can be. We've had some 'bros' who stuck together. Sometimes at the detriment of hens as they would also 'gang up' and over breed the hens.

3) Do hens and roosters pair off together according to breed? Or will one dominant rooster breed with all willing hens regardless of breed?

Sometimes. But roos are opportunists and will try to breed any available hen. Our free range gang of assorted breeds changes constantly. However, our little Japs seem to stay separate (along with a little Cochin hen).

3) Within a flock is there such a thing as a hen and a rooster only interested in each other?

There is definitely such a thing as a rooster having favorite hens. Again, often to the detriment of the hens, as he will over breed them leaving them with bare backs & necks. Our Jap hens hang tightly to the Jap rooster, so I guess they find him more attractive than the other roos available.

4) How old do hens and roosters get before they are too old to produce off spring?

I don't know. Most of ours experience some sort of demise before that time.

5)Can a banty rooster successfully mate with a standard hen?

Yes, but not consistently.

I think the answer to most of your questions is that there is a lot of grey area. Depending on the size of your flock, how much area you have, the breeds you are working with, etc, experiences can range greatly.​