Co-existing roosters. Is it possible?

[MsChickenMomma]

I have two RIR roosters. One is 21 months, the other is 11 months. The 21 month Roo hates the younger one, and he chases him around the yard all the time. He never hurts him, but I think that's only because he hasn't been able to catch him yet.

We had planned on building another coop and giving the young Roo his own space with his own hens. We just recently got 9 chicks and one of them is quite obviously a cockerel.

I've been thinking about it, and I'd like to turn my current coop, into one really big coop, instead of having two coops. I'd also like to try and keep the new cockerel.

My question is, will having another rooster help bring peace to the flock, or will it cause more problems? Also, how do you keep roosters from fighting? How do you set dominance between them, without them harming or possibly killing each other? Do you just let them have their way with each other? I have found lots of people on BYC who have lots of roosters, and they all get along perfectly. Is it the more roosters the better?

Also, how do I stop my two current roosters from fighting? Right now the younger of the two Roo's spends most of his time away from the rest of the flock. When he's out in the yard with them, he gets chased around, but he never gets hurt. The younger rooster clearly knows who's boss, which is why he stays clear of him. But how long will the dominant rooster keep chasing the younger Roo? Will bringing another rooster into the picture help? I will have 21 hens, which I think will be enough for 3 roosters. But how do I get the roosters to co-exist with each other?

Any help would be very much appreciated!

 

[Fred's Hens]

In most cases, if you have a rooster in with hens, the alpha cock bird will not appreciate having any younger males around. It is their nature. When the cockerel approaches the older rooster's flock and yes, it is HIS flock, the younger bird will a) have to become the alpha and overthrow the reigning king or b) stay the heck out of the way. This is all quite common in the animal kingdom.

 

[linuxman]

Well, it is possible to have multiple roosters of different ages. How long have the two older roosters known each other? And, did you introduce them to each other through a fence? Now, as for the fighting, it will stop when a clear pecking order is found, requiring up to 2 months. Adding another rooster after that time will cause the whole thing over again.

For the coexisting, well, I have friends whose roosters never settled down, and I have friends who never had a problem. It depends on the roosters.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

I introduced the two RIR's when the one was about 2 months old. So he grew up to learn that the other rooster was boss. They have been together since then. This winter I had to keep the young rooster separate because he wasn't able to get down to eat because the other rooster was always down there. They have never fought with each other, the one just won't stop chasing the other. I have been told that the more roosters you have, the better chance you have of having a peaceful flock with roosters, and that having only two roosters of different ages is bound to cause fights. Is that true, or was I misinformed? I would like to know if it's possible to get these three roosters to get along together, or if it's most likely a lost cause.

My chickens all free range, and I'm going to possibly be building a two room coop. With roosts in one room, and some in the other. Will that help stop fights too if they have more space and more sleeping options? I know that my oldest rooster will most likely always be dominant, no matter how many roosters I have. I just want to know if it will be better with more roosters, or worse. I don't have much experience with this type of thing...

I have also been keeping the younger rooster in the front of my barn most of the day, and I don't put him into the coop until the other chickens are on the roosts. Is that making it worse? Should I just let them settle this between themselves? Will they ever settle it?

I'm sorry for all of the questions, I just kind of need answers to most of these.

 

[TheCrazyClucker]

I introduced the two RIR's when the one was about 2 months old. So he grew up to learn that the other rooster was boss. They have been together since then. This winter I had to keep the young rooster separate because he wasn't able to get down to eat because the other rooster was always down there. They have never fought with each other, the one just won't stop chasing the other. I have been told that the more roosters you have, the better chance you have of having a peaceful flock with roosters, and that having only two roosters of different ages is bound to cause fights. Is that true, or was I misinformed? I would like to know if it's possible to get these three roosters to get along together, or if it's most likely a lost cause.

My chickens all free range, and I'm going to possibly be building a two room coop. With roosts in one room, and some in the other. Will that help stop fights too if they have more space and more sleeping options? I know that my oldest rooster will most likely always be dominant, no matter how many roosters I have. I just want to know if it will be better with more roosters, or worse. I don't have much experience with this type of thing...

I have also been keeping the younger rooster in the front of my barn most of the day, and I don't put him into the coop until the other chickens are on the roosts. Is that making it worse? Should I just let them settle this between themselves? Will they ever settle it?

Minimal contact between the two roosters will make it better in a way that the older roo won't have the opportunity to potentially hurt him. But on the negative side,it could be a bad idea because they won't get used to each other that way.
I'm sorry for all of the questions, I just kind of need answers to most of these.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

I currently have 13 hens, and 8 chicks in the brooder who are hens, which will make it a total of 21 hens. That would make it 7 hens per rooster, if I kept all three. The last time I introduced new hens to the flock was when I introduced Rodney (the younger rooster) into the flock. They were his sisters.

My coop is 8x10 and I keep 15 chickens in it. They all free range during the day, which is why it's kind of on the small side.

Should I just re-home the new cockerel and not even try adding him to the flock, and them just stick to making a separate coop for the younger rooster?

 

[nova022]

I am by no means an expert on chicken behavior but I am going to say it depends on your roosters. My son's neighbor ordered 50 chicks from Murray MacMurray last year and after they were out of the brooder they strickly free ranged her five acres. She has a couple coops where they can go to lay and roost if they choose but she does not lock them in and allows them to roost in trees if they choose. In addition to her 50 chicks she got five "bonus" chicks. All in all she ended up with 8 roosters. (3 RIR, 2 Silver Spangled Hamberg, 3 Speckeled Sussex) They co-exist with some chasing and squawking but none have ever hurt the others or had real fights. A couple have their own little band of hens and they forage together, roost together and ignore the others. Maybe it is just having plenty of room and plenty of hens and a hands off "let chickens be chickens" approach, but they seem healthy, happy and living in harmony. It is the way I would like my flock to be, but I don't have the room.