Can roosters raised together live peacefully with just a few hens?

[TT4059]

Pretty sure Jacob is a cockerel too.

Thank you.

 

[onwingandhoof]

Thank you.

Silkies are notoriously hard to sex till you hear a crow. Dont feel too bad. I bought 12 babies one time, because my flock had been killed. 7 of them turned out to be male. I was however able to rehome them all. They all went to a very large working ranch. So now it's been some years and we hatched, in the house, four babies. 2 boys, 2 girls. They all chest bumped and squabbled. We kept them all. We have an older Japanese bantam rooster that keeps everyone in line. So our two younger boys are definitely randy, but our Clyde knocks them off and rescues the girls. Yes, they crow. But I'm kinda lucky because they aren't loud. All our chickens, male and female have all been raised being held, hand fed treats, cuddling and ridiculous amounts of love. Our boys all get along and all come to us to be held, kissed and fawned over. Our reward from them, is a lot of wing dances for us. They sit on us when we go out to be with them. Roosters love attention. So they can live together when raised together. They are affectionate when you put in the time.

 

[TT4059]

Silkies are notoriously hard to sex till you hear a crow. Dont feel too bad. I bought 12 babies one time, because my flock had been killed. 7 of them turned out to be male. I was however able to rehome them all. They all went to a very large working ranch. So now it's been some years and we hatched, in the house, four babies. 2 boys, 2 girls. They all chest bumped and squabbled. We kept them all. We have an older Japanese bantam rooster that keeps everyone in line. So our two younger boys are definitely randy, but our Clyde knocks them off and rescues the girls. Yes, they crow. But I'm kinda lucky because they aren't loud. All our chickens, male and female have all been raised being held, hand fed treats, cuddling and ridiculous amounts of love. Our boys all get along and all come to us to be held, kissed and fawned over. Our reward from them, is a lot of wing dances for us. They sit on us when we go out to be with them. Roosters love attention. So they can live together when raised together. They are affectionate when you put in the time.

Thank you! I re homed 2. One lady sends me pictures and videos every day! I love it. The other was a good home too. I still have 2. Waiting to see how loud they crow and I still hope the one is a female. The one that is a rooster we all loveeee. It was do hard to give 2 away
I want to find a way to keep him.. maybe the 2 if they both are and don’t hurt the hens. Or I will rehome one if truly needed

 

[onwingandhoof]

Thank you! I re homed 2. One lady sends me pictures and videos every day! I love it. The other was a good home too. I still have 2. Waiting to see how loud they crow and I still hope the one is a female. The one that is a rooster we all loveeee. It was do hard to give 2 away
I want to find a way to keep him.. maybe the 2 if they both are and don’t hurt the hens. Or I will rehome one if truly needed

With only one or two females to two or more males, your girls back, wings and head will suffer greatly. I believe males mate up to 50 times a day if I remember correctly. The boys will need to be separated from the one female. It's not pretty to see feather loss from over mating. We rescued three hens that were over mated and had malnutrition due to being fed only corn. They're in bad condition so they're kept separate from our flock. These pics show them at their best right now I think some pics got doubled. Sorry... Just keep the boys separate. The over mating will hard and stressful on her. The boys will squabble but theyll be fine.

 

[TT4059]

With only one or two females to two or more males, your girls back, wings and head will suffer greatly. I believe males mate up to 50 times a day if I remember correctly. The boys will need to be separated from the one female. It's not pretty to see feather loss from over mating. We rescued three hens that were over mated and had malnutrition due to being fed only corn. They're in bad condition so they're kept separate from our flock. These pics show them at their best right now I think some pics got doubled. Sorry... Just keep the boys separate. The over mating will hard and stressful on her. The boys will squabble but theyll be fine.

Oh my that’s horrible. I have 4 hens now for sure. One Im not sure hen or roo. And one roo. 3 hens are 2 months old. The other 3 chickens are 3 months old. So I haven’t seen any mate yet. But do they do it in the coop at night?
I have 2 coops. The 3 new hens (2 moth old sleep in one) other 3 month old sleep in the other. How do I make them all sleep in one coop? The run links the coops together. The new hens are on the left. Three 3 month olds on the right.

 

[WonkierZulu]

Maybe unless you want this to happen.

 

[bobbi-j]

Oh my that’s horrible. I have 4 hens now for sure. One Im not sure hen or roo. And one roo. 3 hens are 2 months old. The other 3 chickens are 3 months old. So I haven’t seen any mate yet. But do they do it in the coop at night?
I have 2 coops. The 3 new hens (2 moth old sleep in one) other 3 month old sleep in the other. How do I make them all sleep in one coop? The run links the coops together. The new hens are on the left. Three 3 month olds on the right.

What you have are pullets and cockerel(s). Your cockerels will mature sexually before the pullets and will harass them to no end. They will not be able to eat, sleep, dust bathe or do anything else without randy cockerels wanting to mate them. If you have two cockerels, they will knock one another off to mate to show that they’re the top bird.

I recently had 4 cockerels, 23 pullets and 11 three year old hens. As the cockerels became sexually mature, they wore the feathers off the hens’ backs. Then they started running the pullets down, pulling out neck and head feathers because the pullets weren’t laying, so they weren’t submitting. Three of them went into a grow out pen. I kept the fourth out until he threatened my 2-year old granddaughter. All but one are now resting peacefully in my freezer. The fourth was the guest of honor for supper on Friday.

 

[TT4059]

What you have are pullets and cockerel(s). Your cockerels will mature sexually before the pullets and will harass them to no end. They will not be able to eat, sleep, dust bathe or do anything else without randy cockerels wanting to mate them. If you have two cockerels, they will knock one another off to mate to show that they’re the top bird.

I recently had 4 cockerels, 23 pullets and 11 three year old hens. As the cockerels became sexually mature, they wore the feathers off the hens’ backs. Then they started running the pullets down, pulling out neck and head feathers because the pullets weren’t laying, so they weren’t submitting. Three of them went into a grow out pen. I kept the fourth out until he threatened my 2-year old granddaughter. All but one are now resting peacefully in my freezer. The fourth was the guest of honor for supper on Friday.

Awe. I rehomed too cockerels. I have one left and one that may be a pullet or cockerel… Im really unsure about that one. But if it turns out to be a boy he will be rehomed too. I was really just trying to keep one. I now have 4 (maybe 5 hens)
I was even thinking of adding 2 more in spring. But honestly if the one I’m trying to keep is too loud I will rehome him too. I can not eat them. I have been able to find them homes so far. I think it might be because they are so friendly and healthy.. maybe? I held each daily so they are sweet cockerels to humans. I haven’t seen anyone mount anyone else other than the 2 I rehomed. I will keep watching and rehome for sure if the hens are being abused. I watch them every day alot.

 

[onwingandhoof]

Oh my that’s horrible. I have 4 hens now for sure. One Im not sure hen or roo. And one roo. 3 hens are 2 months old. The other 3 chickens are 3 months old. So I haven’t seen any mate yet. But do they do it in the coop at night?
I have 2 coops. The 3 new hens (2 moth old sleep in one) other 3 month old sleep in the other. How do I make them all sleep in one coop? The run links the coops together. The new hens are on the left. Three 3 month olds on the right.

If I were you, I'd put the hens together to let them get use to each other before they get too old. Theyll fight a bit but its uglier at older ages. The roosters I'd keep separate from them. This way the boys wont hurt them, because they will. They will harass them to the point of exhaustion. Not to mention hens mature slower, so they wont understand what's being demanded. They will scream and try to escape, it's a gross rape scene to see. So we kept ours separated until they were more manageable. Roosters mate up to 50 times a day. So your boys aren't mature enough yet to start. But when they do, about 4 months or so, itll be nasty to hear and see. They mate all day long, not just in the coop.