can two Roo`s live in harmony together ?

[bantamenace]

Hi, we have just found out that we have 2 roosters, they are still only young ( about 9-13 weeks) and have been brought up together. will we be able to keep both or will they fight as they grow ?
The breed is bantam australorp. Thanks very much for any advice..

 

[gritsar]

I started out with two roos to 16 hens. My alpha was very dominant and the subordinate roo very passive, so it worked. If you have two that are insistent on being the alpha, there could be non-stop fights. It really depends on the individual roos personality.
I later gave away my alpha roo and his two favorite hens to a friend. Instantly my flock seemed more at peace. It's hard to describe. As I said, there had never been any fighting, but there must have been an underlying tension that I hadn't picked up on.

 

[NewHopePoultry]

if you keep the two roos and hens togrher, hen no.
I kept 2 groups of 4 roosters together and they were fine, but if you add hens into the mix then you will have alot of fights on your hands.

 

[melissastraka]

I have anywhere from 6-9 roosters in with 60 some hens. They have always been together and raised together. They do get into squabbles sometimes but nothing serious. I would guess its a brother/sister relationship.

 

[Redhead Hen]

I got 6 RIRs from TSC 4 yrs ago. Two were roos and the rest were hens. My two roos were fine together. No problems - except a few minor skirmishes. Just the normal pecking order thing. Granted, now I know that I needed more hens because one did get abused by the roos. But never had a problem between the two roos. They got along very well!

I would say if they are raised together, they should not have a problem. But if a problem arises, take care of it fast. Hope that helps!

 

[Davaroo]

Typically, you must separate them depending on your sex ratio.
How many hens will you have? The more femmes, the less of an issue it is likely to be.

Sometimes, as gritsar suggests, they will get along. But you have to wait and see what they do in the presence of breeding females.
Odds are that the 2 will fight incessantly, as long as there are a smallish number of girls around... in this case, smallish is anything below 15 or so. These are bantams, so they are a bit more high strung in general and the numbers shift a little.

Nevertheless, the lesser male will probably end up on the fringe of the flock if it is small. He will divide his time between dodging the dominant male, eating when he can and stealing whatever breeding opportunities he can.
It's possible he may suffer some for all this, meaning he won't make top breeding stock. If he does succeed at his clandestine trysts, you run the long-range risk of diminished flock vigor.

While that is probably not in your mind as an issue, in the sort term, they will bear watching.

 

[mamaKate]

I had two beautiful roos from the same breeder. This was many years ago and the guy said he could sex day old chicks. I believed him and brought home 3 "pullets". The 2 roos and 1 hen grew up together and free ranged with no problems. I later added several hens. The guys were spoiled brats who chased anyone who would run but they got along with each other just fine. I think it really does depend on each individual bird.

 

[greathorse]

I have had about 30 hens and two roosters for some time with no real issues. The dominant rooster certainly etablishes himself as just that and the other gets the left overs so to speak. I guess if you were breeding for fine stock you would not want a weaker rooster in the pen, but if you were breeding for show etc. you would likely have a breeding pen set with roosters breeding to known hens and so forth.

I normally have the dominant rooster and one that is younger that quickly learns his status. I do not hesitate to cull roosters that dont work out for any number of reasons, so I dont have the issue of agonizing about where they land in the hierarchy. It is what it is. Too aggressive = gone too - docile = gone

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Can you keep two roos together in a bachelor pad with no hens?

 

[greathorse]

Refer to above LOL. Actually they get along pretty good in general. I have 15 roosters in a pen waiting to get nice and fat. They squabble some but no big arguments. Pretty typical adolescent stuff