Can my two roosters live in harmony?

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Hi there! So, I’ve recently had to thin my flock and rehome a bunch of roosters. I got it down to one, but actually reclaimed one that was just beautiful. They were hatched together and have been raised together, and are now 13 weeks old. They are with four hens they were also raised with, and now 11 pullets who are eight weeks old. They have a huge coop, and their run is 12x12. I know all roosters are different, but they have always gotten along. Is it possible, as in, has anyone had success in a similar situation? Thanks so much

 

[Shadrach]

Hi there! So, I’ve recently had to thin my flock and rehome a bunch of roosters. I got it down to one, but actually reclaimed one that was just beautiful. They were hatched together and have been raised together, and are now 13 weeks old. They are with four hens they were also raised with, and now 11 pullets who are eight weeks old. They have a huge coop, and their run is 12x12. I know all roosters are different, but they have always gotten along. Is it possible, as in, has anyone had success in a similar situation? Thanks so much

What you have is cockerels rather than roosters. In the USA at least roosters are a year old or more.
12 x 12 what, feet, yards, metres?
How big exactly is a huge coop? Measurements are really helpfull with the appropriate units.
If these males are only 13 weeks old "always" doesn't mean much.
In general the chance of two males getting on in a confined space is quite low.
There are always exceptions.

 

[bobbi-j]

What you have is cockerels rather than roosters. In the USA at least roosters are a year old or more.
12 x 12 what, feet, yards, metres?
How big exactly is a huge coop? Measurements are really helpfull with the appropriate units.
If these males are only 13 weeks old "always" doesn't mean much.
In general the chance of two males getting on in a confined space is quite low.
There are always exceptions.

 

[Mrs. K]

There are common animal behavior conceptions that do not work for cockerels:

• Todays behavior is not indicator for tomorrow with cockerels.
• being raised together will make for life long friends
• they will happily share chickens or take half of the flock
• being friendly to people will not lead to aggression to people
• cockerels will love their hens and take care of them

They are in the darling stage, a lot of personality, probably acting friendly and playful. This stage does not last. It often leads almost instantly into the nightmare stage. They don't call it cock fighting for nothing.

You need to have a plan B. A 5 ft fish net, to separate fighting birds, and a dog crate. You need them on hand and easily reached. A fight may be a skirmish, and settled, or it may get very ugly. Inexperienced people often times vastly underestimate the violence of an aggressive rooster, let alone a pair of them.

With 4 hens, I would not have ANY roosters. In about 4 weeks they will make your pullets' lives miserable, with constant mating. It will be very aggressive, and unrelenting. You will not even have 4 hens for months. I do not advise adding a cockerel or rooster to a flock until the pullets are laying. You are a long ways from this and cockerels won't wait.

Roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people. If you have children under the age of 5, I would not keep roosters. They most generally attack children first. Under the age of 6, it can be in the face.

This forum is filled with post where the darling became the nightmare, in an instant. That probably is not quite true, but inexperienced people often times misinterpret the aggression cues as being friendly, or make excuses for the behavior, like wrong color, or startled him. And they vastly underestimate the violence.

Most people who get chickens are animal lovers, and that can make them very uncomfortable with the idea of dispatching a bird. If you don't think you could cull an aggressive rooster, do re-nome him, them ASAP.

In my 20+ years of experience, I would not keep 2 roosters unless I had over 25 hens. If I decided to keep two roosters with that, I would have a good rooster, and raise up a several cockerels under him a year or two later, culling until I got something to work.
Sometimes flock mates will work, but the odds are against you.

Mrs K

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

There are common animal behavior conceptions that do not work for cockerels:

• Todays behavior is not indicator for tomorrow with cockerels.
• being raised together will make for life long friends
• they will happily share chickens or take half of the flock
• being friendly to people will not lead to aggression to people
• cockerels will love their hens and take care of them

They are in the darling stage, a lot of personality, probably acting friendly and playful. This stage does not last. It often leads almost instantly into the nightmare stage. They don't call it cock fighting for nothing.

You need to have a plan B. A 5 ft fish net, to separate fighting birds, and a dog crate. You need them on hand and easily reached. A fight may be a skirmish, and settled, or it may get very ugly. Inexperienced people often times vastly underestimate the violence of an aggressive rooster, let alone a pair of them.

With 4 hens, I would not have ANY roosters. In about 4 weeks they will make your pullets' lives miserable, with constant mating. It will be very aggressive, and unrelenting. You will not even have 4 hens for months. I do not advise adding a cockerel or rooster to a flock until the pullets are laying. You are a long ways from this and cockerels won't wait.

Roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people. If you have children under the age of 5, I would not keep roosters. They most generally attack children first. Under the age of 6, it can be in the face.

This forum is filled with post where the darling became the nightmare, in an instant. That probably is not quite true, but inexperienced people often times misinterpret the aggression cues as being friendly, or make excuses for the behavior, like wrong color, or startled him. And they vastly underestimate the violence.

Most people who get chickens are animal lovers, and that can make them very uncomfortable with the idea of dispatching a bird. If you don't think you could cull an aggressive rooster, do re-nome him, them ASAP.

In my 20+ years of experience, I would not keep 2 roosters unless I had over 25 hens. If I decided to keep two roosters with that, I would have a good rooster, and raise up a several cockerels under him a year or two later, culling until I got something to work.
Sometimes flock mates will work, but the odds are against you.

Mrs K

Mrs K, thank you so much for your advice. As much as I love these two roosters and as friendly as they both are with us now, I just want eggs, not a bloodbath. My husband will be rehoming them tomorrow. Although it’s been awhile since I’ve had chickens, I’m all about enjoying them without putting them under undo stress. I work hard every day to keep them healthy and happy, and this forum and the experiences of others is very helpful.

Thank you!

 

[Folly's place]

Next year you will have hopefully fifteen hens, and maybe more pullets? Consider raising some straight run chicks, and keeping a good cockerel then.
And don't mistake 'friendly' for 'bold', easily done raising first cockerels, and often not actually the right choice when human aggression is to be avoided.
Mary

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Thank you. I have 17 strait run pullets at the moment, so I will have the hens I wanted. These two roosters were hatched with five of the Pullets I have now, so it just made sense, so I wouldn’t have to introduce a new rooster that these would work well. I may just put them in a bachelor pad if I see any weirdness, and determine which one to keep after that. It’s hard when you develop feelings for them, and everyone is used to each other at this point. But I am a realist and will do what needs to be done for the comfort of my ladies

 

[1cock2hens]

I always keep more than one rooster, I currently have 1 rooster and 3 cockerils and they have zero problems. It can be done realistically, roosters will fight but not to the death (unless they are game) and once a pecking order is established they don't really fight. Of course we are 100% free range so there is a difference

 

[Folly's place]

We have three roosters and 27 hens right now, all locked in because of AI, and no issues. The right birds in the right spaces will work out, it's a matter of having good spaces, multiple food and water stations, and compatible birds.
Mary

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

I always keep more than one rooster, I currently have 1 rooster and 3 cockerils and they have zero problems. It can be done realistically, roosters will fight but not to the death (unless they are game) and once a pecking order is established they don't really fight. Of course we are 100% free range so there is a difference

Thank you! I know it’s a crap shoot, but I am on top of it and have a couple different spaces for them if it becomes a problem. I wish they could free range, but we have some many hawks, owls and coyotes, and we don’t have the beautiful, lush greenery because we are in the desert. Thank you again for your advice