Cockerel/rooster order

[Driley62]

So I have 20 birds currently and of the 20, 2 are male. Also have a broody hen sitting on 6 due to hatch by the end of the week(fingers crossed all female...but statistically not in my favor).

I'm aware the "magic number" is 1 roo to 10 hens. But at times that seems to be more or less a guideline than an actual rule. But people follow it for obvious reasons.

But my question about this is. I have one rooster that is over a year old now and a cockerel in with my newbie group of 8 totaling my flock currently at 20. My newbies mingle but don't hang with the senior crew which is expected as they're not laying yet but I suspect some are close to it because the seniors aren't chasing them off like they used to.

But my question is about the boys. Now I expect some minor disputes between the two as to who is king when my young gun becomes of age but hope nothing major. Especially since the pecking order is established among the flock. Aside from the newbies establishing a tad again between themselves(looking more like a fluffed up dance).

Should I be concerned of any major disputes between the boys in the coming future or will the ratio help deter that issue?

My senior roo is a RIR and by my research my junior is a GLW. From my research GLW typically stay with their own breed for whatever reason and don't mate outside of that....TYPICALLY from what I understand. But I do understand also that's not always the case. I also have SLW pullets(2) in the group of newbies along with 1 GLW pullet(wanted 2 pullets but unfortunate/fortunate luck of the draw on him). I think wyandotte especially GLW roos are a great looking bird so im happy to have him. I also know wyandottes are usually docile in nature. There's a bunch swirling in my head on this. I attached the photos of my two boys in the flock just for visual purposes and because I can .

Thanks all

 

[50-45-1]

I would expect some serious fighting will begin to happen, especially when springtime arrives
I have never had a rooster only prefer hens of alike breed. A rooter will compete over avaliable hens, and inless you have 2 coops and living arangements eventually you may want to downsize to one nice rooster.

 

[Driley62]

I would expect some serious fighting will begin to happen, especially when springtime arrives
I have never had a rooster only prefer hens of alike breed. A rooter will compete over avaliable hens, and inless you have 2 coops and living arangements eventually you may want to downsize to one nice rooster.

What's confusing to me though is I know a few people that had two roos with less hens than myself and the roosters got along just fine. I myself in my flock have nearly the perfect 1:10 ratio or magic number. They haven't went after each other at all and both seem to know where their rank is in the flock. Out of work due to a surgery but because of my limited ability I have the time to sit and watch. The newbies mingle a bit with the oldies but not a ton yet. Not saying it won't happen. But im curious of the potential based on my ratios. Both boys seem very well natured. I know my senior guy is as RIR are known to be aggressive boys overall but he's the opposite. He's skittish a bit but not mean. I have a friend that has a RIR roo and he's afraid to go near it unless on roost because of his stressing tendencies. He'd a made it to the freezer but has protected his flock very well saving his life.

For my guys, the coop size is adequate to house them all at one time over night and keep the space adequately warm to not have to add artificial heat. Run space wise they have tons of space on top of the nearly perfect ratio. At my last bird count I had nearly 30 sqft per bird in their enclosure. I cant free range because of the ground predator pressure here.

 

[Jenessa_096]

I also find when a broody hen hatches out chicks, the roosters become more aggressive. Usually though, if you have two roosters that grew up together from chicks, they will get along better.

 

[Driley62]

I also find when a broody hen hatches out chicks, the roosters become more aggressive. Usually though, if you have two roosters that grew up together from chicks, they will get along better.

These two thus far are getting along fine. But the newbies learned their place in the order in a quick fashion and since then no disputes. My white leghorns are still d!(*$ but I've noticed they're like that with all the birds.

This is the 3rd time she's went broody on my this year(and a first year layer) I never noticed a difference with my first rooster. Granted he was the only guy in the flock at that time. But he also doesn't act like a typical rooster it seems. When the egg song is sang roos tend to go get the girl to bring her back to the flock...he could care less. He's not aggressive at all and he's a breed that's classically aggressive. It's actually more rare to find docile in his breed and I hit the jackpot as all 4 I bought (straight run chance) were all males and all were docile! So I managed to hit the lottery in one department but lost it all in the other. So in the end I'm nervous but curious to what will happen with him.

I did notice like my research told me the new guy has classically stuck with the other wyandottes and hasn't really even interacted with the rest as much.

 

[Jenessa_096]

These two thus far are getting along fine. But the newbies learned their place in the order in a quick fashion and since then no disputes. My white leghorns are still d!(*$ but I've noticed they're like that with all the birds.

This is the 3rd time she's went broody on my this year(and a first year layer) I never noticed a difference with my first rooster. Granted he was the only guy in the flock at that time. But he also doesn't act like a typical rooster it seems. When the egg song is sang roos tend to go get the girl to bring her back to the flock...he could care less. He's not aggressive at all and he's a breed that's classically aggressive. It's actually more rare to find docile in his breed and I hit the jackpot as all 4 I bought (straight run chance) were all males and all were docile! So I managed to hit the lottery in one department but lost it all in the other. So in the end I'm nervous but curious to what will happen with him.

I did notice like my research told me the new guy has classically stuck with the other wyandottes and hasn't really even interacted with the rest as much.

Oh my goodness I had a broody hen this year, that we let hatch out three checks and she abandon them when they were only a month old. If you say the roosters are calm and get along they should do fine. I’m just saying, we had a rooster named Cooper and he was the sweetest boy that we could hold and give treats to. But after we let a hen hatch out eggs he turned quite the opposite and would attack me anytime I came outside. I hope this doesn’t happen to you!

 

[Driley62]

Oh my goodness I had a broody hen this year, that we let hatch out three checks and she abandon them when they were only a month old. If you say the roosters are calm and get along they should do fine. I’m just saying, we had a rooster named Cooper and he was the sweetest boy that we could hold and give treats to. But after we let a hen hatch out eggs he turned quite the opposite and would attack me anytime I came outside. I hope this doesn’t happen to you!

First time for our broody she did great but I rehomed the chicks quick(didn't have space at the time for them) she went through a grumpy panic attack like a Tom turkey fluffed up wings out trying to attract a girl...she was pissed but didnt attack. My rooster he stayed clear of her...his demeanor didn't change a bit with me. I could walk in and feed and water them...grab him and pet him(sometimes with a lil chase as he didn't wanna be held at that moment....but once I got him he was cool with it). If anything he got more scared because of mama...all the birds stayed away from her actually. Second time she hatched, she abandoned the nest...but that was my fault. We built a newer larger more user friendly coop with operating windows and everything. When we moved her and her clutch in we didn't do it the proper way and she left them. This time has been odd. I have her twelve to hatch and I'm down to 5. She has been breaking eggs that I think have died or weren't viable from the start.

 

[Jenessa_096]

First time for our broody she did great but I rehomed the chicks quick(didn't have space at the time for them) she went through a grumpy panic attack like a Tom turkey fluffed up wings out trying to attract a girl...she was pissed but didnt attack. My rooster he stayed clear of her...his demeanor didn't change a bit with me. I could walk in and feed and water them...grab him and pet him(sometimes with a lil chase as he didn't wanna be held at that moment....but once I got him he was cool with it). If anything he got more scared because of mama...all the birds stayed away from her actually.

Yeah, maybe if you have enough hens it won’t be a problem. At that time with the one broody hen sitting, we only had two hens for him. Maybe that was the problem??

 

[Driley62]

Yeah, maybe if you have enough hens it won’t be a problem. At that time with the one broody hen sitting, we only had two hens for him. Maybe that was the problem??

That's a huge possibility actually. I read somewhere that the more girls for a guy the better to keep him occupied of his duties...breeding and protective watch. My buddy had 3 hens and his one roo and he was a complete asshole but once he got more hens and they were Integrated he calmed down a bit for a while.

 

[Jenessa_096]

That's a huge possibility actually. I read somewhere that the more girls for a guy the better to keep him occupied of his duties...breeding and protective watch. My buddy had 3 hens and his one roo and he was a complete asshole but once he got more hens and they were Integrated he calmed down a bit for a while.

Yeah, that’s what I thought! Anyway, I hope your roosters will be nicer than mine was!