crazy looking chicken

[chick4chicks88]

We suspected the lighter Barred Rock to be a rooster...and if the others are roos as you think...I will be eating a lot of chicken at some point! I'm pretty sure we have 2 RIR roosters as well. That would cut me down to 13 hens...I would like to keep the BR rooster as well as 1 of our RIR roosters, however with a flock of 13 would I use 2 roosters?

 

[Stiggy]

Possibly however it would depend on wether you are running both roosters together or not. If not you will need two pens/coops. In saying that it is possible for two roosters to get along together especially if they were raised together

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I tried getting a rump photo..."he" wouldnt hold still (I'm convinced its a rooster...i could be wrong tho!

Also would anyone know what my lil Missy is? (Hint she is NOT the RIR)

Looks like a RSL to me

 

[donrae]

We suspected the lighter Barred Rock to be a rooster...and if the others are roos as you think...I will be eating a lot of chicken at some point! I'm pretty sure we have 2 RIR roosters as well. That would cut me down to 13 hens...I would like to keep the BR rooster as well as 1 of our RIR roosters, however with a flock of 13 would I use 2 roosters?

This is one of those "you'll have to try it and see" kind of things. When I've raised roosters together, I've had very minimal fighting, more like the squabbling my boys do

. That number of roosters may be too many for that many hens, especially when the roosters hit puberty and the hormones rage. A lot just depends on the temperament of the individual bird, and IMO a lot is how much space you have. Free ranging or a very large run helps everyone get along much better. At one point I had 4 roosters and probably two dozen hens, and life was just fine. They free ranged in their own little groups and slept together fine at night.....all had been raised together. But they had lots and lots of space, and things to break line of sight.

 

[chick4chicks88]

Cool. So far EVERYBODY is still housed together...we have a decent size. Coop with a decent size yard...I'm planning on eventually attempting free range. I'm a little nervous to do it tho because where I'm at there are bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, and what feels like every thing else that would love chicken for dinner. Lol we were planning splitting the roosters off hens eventually so we dont have. Uncontrolled breeding. I also I have 2 ducks...still at 5 weeks...one I'm thinking is a Rouen, still not sure bout the other...its white with a little black on its back end. I thought maybe a Muscovy, but now I don't think so...I'll post a pic of it.

 

[donrae]

You don't have to separate your roosters from your hens unless/until you want to incubate eggs from a specific cross. Yes, any rooster will breed any hen, but you, as the human, get to choose which eggs get incubated to become chicks and which just get to be breakfast