Can I keep 8 roosters?

[AmberRose23]

Okay. This probably sounds crazy. I was given 11 baby chicks of various ages in an emergency situation. I had the land and this person was moving and couldn’t start her flock as planned. She had bought chicks from various places and now I have 8 suspected roosters. 2 polish Roos, 1 silkie roo (I am not completely sure but he has a little mow hawk at six weeks, so it’s not looking great) 1 Easter egger, 2 silver laced Wyandotte, 1 welsummer, 1 lavender Cochin, and maybe a an australorp. Can I keep them altogether? Like forever? Or do I have to give them all away? I wouldn’t mind keep them, but I don’t have enough hens. I will have one golden comet and one welsummer hen. So what do I do? Eating isn’t an option, they are too fancy to eat lol. Please help me!

 

[Bertram]

You could try keeping two separate flocks.

 

[picklestheduck]

Okay. This probably sounds crazy. I was given 11 baby chicks of various ages in an emergency situation. I had the land and this person was moving and couldn’t start her flock as planned. She had bought chicks from various places and now I have 8 suspected roosters. 2 polish Roos, 1 silkie roo (I am not completely sure but he has a little mow hawk at six weeks, so it’s not looking great) 1 Easter egger, 2 silver laced Wyandotte, 1 welsummer, 1 lavender Cochin, and maybe a an australorp. Can I keep them altogether? Like forever? Or do I have to give them all away? I wouldn’t mind keep them, but I don’t have enough hens. I will have one golden comet and one welsummer hen. So what do I do? Eating isn’t an option, they are too fancy to eat lol. Please help me!

If you want to keep them, I suggest giving the boys their own place, a bachelor coop. I have two extra roosters that I have in a small coop and a portable chicken tractor that I move around the yard every few days so they can forage as well as have free choice food. If you keep the boys away from the hens they have much better chances of getting along. Remember all birds are different and sometimes they cannot get along, but if they were raised together it had a good chance of working.

 

[NatJ]

You could try keeping two separate flocks.

I agree. One flock could be roosters only, the other flock could be hens with no roosters, or maybe with one rooster.

A common guideline is 4 square feet of space per chicken in the coop (that is where they sleep at night, and where they hang out all day in bad weather), and 10 square feet of space per chicken in the run (that is where they spend most of the day when the weather is nice). Given that roosters are often bigger than hens, you may want to provide even more space than that. People in extreme climates (hot or cold) often end up with modifications of those guidelines: cold climates may need a much bigger coop (because the run is unavailable for so much of the year), while hot climates may have a roofed run and no real "coop" at all.

Eating isn’t an option, they are too fancy to eat lol.

They still taste like chicken

Sometimes a person's feelings will change over time, so I suggest you re-check your views every few months as they grow up. If your views change, then you can decide whether to do anything different. And if your views stay the same, then of course you don't have to change anything.

 

[AmberRose23]

That’s definitely an idea. My land is big enough but the problem is the babies are all different ages and are kept in different brooders. Does that matter? They go out on little field trips when the weather is nice but they stay in their own groups that they know from their brooder. So this four and that four, occasionally hanging out together. Is is that hard to give them away? Will anyone want them if tried to post them some for free? I just want them to go to good homes.

If you want to keep them, I suggest giving the boys their own place, a bachelor coop. I have two extra roosters that I have in a small coop and a portable chicken tractor that I move around the yard every few days so they can forage as well as have free choice food. If you keep the boys away from the hens they have much better chances of getting along. Remember all birds are different and sometimes they cannot get along, but if they were raised together it had a good chance of working.

 

[SueT]

The boys will probably get rowdy, combative, and they’ll harass the girls mercilessly until you’ll be glad to part with all but one. In the meantime you’ll have time to assess which one makes the cut….

 

[ShrekDawg]

That’s definitely an idea. My land is big enough but the problem is the babies are all different ages and are kept in different brooders. Does that matter? They go out on little field trips when the weather is nice but they stay in their own groups that they know from their brooder. So this four and that four, occasionally hanging out together. Is is that hard to give them away? Will anyone want them if tried to post them some for free? I just want them to go to good homes.

I’ve seen a lot of people say roosters are very difficult to get rid of them but when I posted mine I had multiple replies in less than 15 minutes soooo

 

[ShrekDawg]

And especially where yours are fancier it should be easier.

 

[NatJ]

That’s definitely an idea. My land is big enough but the problem is the babies are all different ages and are kept in different brooders. Does that matter? They go out on little field trips when the weather is nice but they stay in their own groups that they know from their brooder. So this four and that four, occasionally hanging out together.

What ages are they? Some ages are easy to integrate together, some ages are harder.

 

[picklestheduck]

That’s definitely an idea. My land is big enough but the problem is the babies are all different ages and are kept in different brooders. Does that matter? They go out on little field trips when the weather is nice but they stay in their own groups that they know from their brooder. So this four and that four, occasionally hanging out together. Is is that hard to give them away? Will anyone want them if tried to post them some for free? I just want them to go to good homes.

Yes there’s are hundreds and thousands of unwanted roosters out there, and most everyone has the same problem…. Too many. Some people get lucky and can rehome them…. But right? I’m guessing you won’t be able to rehome them all. You can slowly introduce the boys through a see no touch method if you want to try a bachelor pen.It’s up to you