Cockerels

[CoopedUpChicken]

I have 14 pullets and 2 cockerels (that I'm aware of) and they are 3.25 months old. They live in a pen/coop/run enclosure with supervised free range right before their bedtime.
I have a huge white cockerel and a wyandotte cockerel. Neither crow yet.

The big white one is just starting to try to mount the girls.
He kind of jumps up a little bit and he grabs their neck with his beak and ends up pulling a feather out of the pullet's neck while she screams and runs away. He just stands there confused for a second.

The cockerels are starting to tussle a tiny bit.

So, if the white one is getting more and more aggressive (he actually did an aggressive display toward me today for the first time) - what am I supposed to do?

Am I destined to separate the roosters?
Is it possible for them to get along?
Are there too many roosters and too little hens?
Am I supposed to pin the roosters down and hold them when they display aggressively toward me?
Do I worry about my girls being injured with the mating?

 

[GitaBooks]

I have some young roos too, and they start sorting out a pecking order at just a few weeks old. However, I don't see any real fighting until they are completely mature, and even then siblings may not fight too much, especially if there are enough hens (at least 8 per rooster).

I'm not sure I agree with all the training ideas behind am aggressive rooster, but this may help: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/390911/important-how-to-deal-with-an-aggressive-rooster

I've had over 7 roosters living together at a time, but that was a little too chaotic. However, two should do well together. They may argue a bit when young, and you should certainly separate them if one gets badly injured. My silly little silkie roo sometimes gets hurt when he argues with my big guy, but he heals up fast and I make sure he gets food, water, lots of space, and isn't too stressed (he gets stressed when young roos mature before we cull them). My silkie roos actually really get along well. They never fight and they are always seen near one another, even perching together. They don't seem to argue over their girls.

Low girls on the pecking order may be injured, but usually injuries only happen with romantic teen roos or those with really large spurs.

I hope this helps. Best of luck!

 

[azygous]

I also have found myself with two unexpected cockerels after the flock has been without a rooster for a year. They're ten weeks old, and they are so far getting along. But the larger one is making advances on the pullets already.

My practice is to kick out the cockerels when they become a nuisance to the hens. I simply let them out to free range during the day and let them back into the coop at night to roost. This spares the girls the clumsy, incessant advanced of the cockerels all day long. It does no harm to the cockerels since they spend most of their time at the fence oggling the girls all day.

Allowing the cockerels free access to the hens isn't necessary and if they're kep separate, it greatly improves the harmony of the flock. After the cockerels pass a year old, they tend to mellow out, and I generally then allow them back in with the girls if they get along. If the two end up fighting all the time, then one alternates with the other inside the run.

As far as disciplining the cockerel to be non-aggressive, read the instruction manual, and then wait and see if you will need to use it. There's a good chance of not having an aggression issues with your boys.

 

[CoopedUpChicken]

Thank you to you both - excellent ideas!!!