Chickens need my help! What do I do??

[Bones]

I am a newbie chicken owner and I am having some problems.

Our Special Dual Purpose chicken were purchased as day old chicks about 13 weeks ago.

11 Roosters and 11 Hens

Today when I came home from work we noticed that one of the roosters is missing feathers on the back of his neck and has a wound, not open yet but extremely raw. He seems to be stressed out, panting and laying down whenever he isn't being botherd. We seperated the rooster from all the other birds but they are getting really agressive with each other and I am not sure what to do.

Advice from some of you could really help.

Thanks in advance.
Bones

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Sounds like a more dominant roo in the crowd than him. How big of a space do you have them in? Too many roos together spells trouble.

 

[easttxchick]

The big thing is the 11 roosters and their age-with that kind of hen to rooster ration, the fighting is inevitable. Ideal rooster to hen ratio is 1:10.
At 13 weeks old, they are starting to mature and get aggressive and establish who the alpha is. You are probably in for a lot of this in the future unless you rehome 10 of those roosters.
I'm really sorry this is happening.

 

[Dingleberry]

Quote:
I agree

 

[Bones]

14' x 14' inside coop area with another 14' x 14' outside during the day.

There seems to be a couple dominant roosters, it would be hard to seperate the couple that seem to be the trouble makers

I have so many questions. Are they getting too much light?? Are they too close together??

I don't think it is their food, but I'm not sure.

Any suggestions??

Thanks,
Bones

 

[oldchickenlady]

You have enough coop space but not quite enough run space for 22 chickens. It would be a good idea to rehome or butcher some of the roosters. 11 roosters is just too many to be together in that size space with hens present. They are starting to mature so the fighting and agressive behavior is only going to get worse as they mature. Maybe you could sell them on craigslist?

 

[ekemily]

Quote:
They aren't getting too much light. The problem is what the other posters are saying: You have TOO MANY ROOS in one area together. They will constantly be fighting. There are way too many roos for the number of hens you have. I suppose you got so many roos because you will be butchering them for meat. Even if you took out your two dominant roosters, the others will just start fighting again to become dominant of the 8 or so roosters you have left. Ideally, you should only have one rooster for the number of hens you have. Hope this helps!

 

[Chickengal505]

Whoa First 11:11 does NOT work to many roos

 

[Bones]

Remember I said I was a "newbie" and I wasn't lying, only 4 years on a farm, this is my first try at chickens and pheasants all in one year. Ha Ha

I guess we will look at butchering 10 of the roos tomorrow, again a first time at that as well. I actually have cleaned ducks and geese s I'm not freaked out by it but any advice i will take.

I guess we only had friends that had "White Rocks" and it seemed awefully cruel, anyways after looking into different breeds available at our local Feed Mill we bought "Special Dual Purpose". They mature around 15 weeks from what I read so butchering them at 13 is still fine?

Your site is pretty interesting and this seems like a great resource for a newbie like me.

Bones

 

[MotherJean]

I think the Deliberate Agrarian is "da man". His blog has some great how-to articles. Here's a link to butchering poultry http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2008/01/deliberate-agrarian-archives-raising.html Good luck. He also makes his own apple cider vinegar and has detailed instructions on how you can do it, too, if anyone's interested.