Dealing with more than one Rooster

[ACurtis]

I wanted to see how everyone deals with more than one rooster. So I posted earlier this week that we hatched out 27 (incubated 30) Americuana chicks... We intended on keeping 6 and giving the rest to new homes (never did we think 27 would hatch and that all 27 would be so healthy and thrive). Our two boys chose the two black chicks immediately and over the last three weeks my husband and i have selected ones we are sure are hens and are very docile and sweet. We have suspected that one of the black ones our oldest boy picked was a rooster due to behavior and just hes much bigger than the rest of the flock. He/she doesn't have a red comb yet or waddle development but we told him if it is a rooster we will keep him. THEN, we have this guy (pictures attached) hes very obviously a rooster, Large red comb at 3 weeks old, large red waddle development. very dominate and chest bumping and walking tall... BUT hes so sweet with us, comes right up to us and wants us to rub his chest and cheeks. So, my husband and i don't want to part with him. Hes our favorite part of the evening when we go fill up their water and food for the night he greets us and wants affection. We also cant get rid of our sons black americuana if its a roo because we promised him he could keep it regardless... what is everyone best advice for having more than one roo and cohabitation?

 

[Shorty22366]

I have 4 roos. 2 Silkie brother, a sebright and a Favorellas. I also have 56 hens. 14 are just hatched chicks from my Silkie mommas. I think if you have enough hens and room you can keep all your roos. I have nothing but the occasional chest bump just to show pecking order. Good luck.

 

[SueT]

Being friendly w roosters fosters aggression. Take a hands off approach if you want them to see you as boss. You don't want them thinking they are in charge....

 

[ACurtis]

I have 4 rooms. 2 Silkie brother, a sebright and a Favorellas. I also have 56 hens. 14 are just hatched chickens from my Silkie mommas. I think if you have enough hens and room you can keep all your rooms. I have nothing but the occasional chest bump just to show pecking order. Good luck.

in addition to this flock that is 3 weeks old we also have some week old babies in a nesting box, two silkies (not sure if they are a hen or roo yet) two bantam hens, a salmon favorellas hen, a golden sex link and two cream legbars. we plan to be at 15 birds when we are done (that includes the roo we just decided to keep)

 

[Ridgerunner]

With yellow legs and a single comb the one pictured is not an Ameraucana. If he hatched from a blue or green egg he could be an Easter Egger. True Ameraucana hens only lay blue eggs. They can only hatch from blue eggs.

No one can tell you what will happen with two or more males together. They may get along great, they may fight to the death. The more room they have the more likely they will get along. Room is huge when it comes to getting better behaviors, at least in interactions between chickens. If you raise cockerels together they are more likely to get along instead of kill each other.

Each chicken is an individual and each has its own personality. I have no idea what personalities your specific cockerels and pullets will have. A lot of what happens depends on how fast they mature, that can vary a lot also. What I would expect to happen is that when they hit puberty the males will determine which is boss. That could involve some serious fighting or it could be really peaceful. The cockerels' hormones will tell them to establish dominance over the pullets. That generally involves mating the pullets, whether they cooperate or not. Usually they do not so it can get pretty brutal and vicious down there. As someone in here once said, watching pullets and cockerels go through puberty is often not for the faint of heart. That's when a lot of people decide they really don't really need a male after all.

If you try it I suggest you have a separate pen ready so you can isolate the cockerels from one another if it becomes necessary. On very short notice.

Some of your possible outcomes. You may find they do get along. It happens.

You can build a pen and put one cockerel in there by himself if it proves necessary. Or put both cockerels in there but no pullets. That is called a bachelor pad. As long as there are no females to fight over the males can usually live together quite peacefully.

You can build separate facilities. Put one male and some of the females in one and all the others in the second one. Forever have two separate flocks that will never be together.

 

[Cheyenne97]

With yellow legs and a single comb the one pictured is not an Ameraucana. If he hatched from a blue or green egg he could be an Easter Egger. True Ameraucana hens only lay blue eggs. They can only hatch from blue eggs.

No one can tell you what will happen with two or more males together. They may get along great, they may fight to the death. The more room they have the more likely they will get along. Room is huge when it comes to getting better behaviors, at least in interactions between chickens. If you raise cockerels together they are more likely to get along instead of kill each other.

Each chicken is an individual and each has its own personality. I have no idea what personalities your specific cockerels and pullets will have. A lot of what happens depends on how fast they mature, that can vary a lot also. What I would expect to happen is that when they hit puberty the males will determine which is boss. That could involve some serious fighting or it could be really peaceful. The cockerels' hormones will tell them to establish dominance over the pullets. That generally involves mating the pullets, whether they cooperate or not. Usually they do not so it can get pretty brutal and vicious down there. As someone in here once said, watching pullets and cockerels go through puberty is often not for the faint of heart. That's when a lot of people decide they really don't really need a male after all.

If you try it I suggest you have a separate pen ready so you can isolate the cockerels from one another if it becomes necessary. On very short notice.

Some of your possible outcomes. You may find they do get along. It happens.

You can build a pen and put one cockerel in there by himself if it proves necessary. Or put both cockerels in there but no pullets. That is called a bachelor pad. As long as there are no females to fight over the males can usually live together quite peacefully.

You can build separate facilities. Put one male and some of the females in one and all the others in the second one. Forever have two separate flocks that will never be together.

I second this.

 

[jolly wattles]

Sorry but your chicks are Easter Eggers. Not true ameraucanas.
Ameraucanas have pea combs and slate legs.

 

[ACurtis]

With yellow legs and a single comb the one pictured is not an Ameraucana. If he hatched from a blue or green egg he could be an Easter Egger. True Ameraucana hens only lay blue eggs. They can only hatch from blue eggs.

No one can tell you what will happen with two or more males together. They may get along great, they may fight to the death. The more room they have the more likely they will get along. Room is huge when it comes to getting better behaviors, at least in interactions between chickens. If you raise cockerels together they are more likely to get along instead of kill each other.

Each chicken is an individual and each has its own personality. I have no idea what personalities your specific cockerels and pullets will have. A lot of what happens depends on how fast they mature, that can vary a lot also. What I would expect to happen is that when they hit puberty the males will determine which is boss. That could involve some serious fighting or it could be really peaceful. The cockerels' hormones will tell them to establish dominance over the pullets. That generally involves mating the pullets, whether they cooperate or not. Usually they do not so it can get pretty brutal and vicious down there. As someone in here once said, watching pullets and cockerels go through puberty is often not for the faint of heart. That's when a lot of people decide they really don't really need a male after all.

If you try it I suggest you have a separate pen ready so you can isolate the cockerels from one another if it becomes necessary. On very short notice.

Some of your possible outcomes. You may find they do get along. It happens.

You can build a pen and put one cockerel in there by himself if it proves necessary. Or put both cockerels in there but no pullets. That is called a bachelor pad. As long as there are no females to fight over the males can usually live together quite peacefully.

You can build separate facilities. Put one male and some of the females in one and all the others in the second one. Forever have two separate flocks that will never be together.

Sorry i should have noted we know that some may be brown leghorns. Again, this is a hatch we received from a friend to grow out so i cant say without a doubt. My husband and i were looking at the bachelor pad idea last night. i was just worried if that would work. I didn't know what others experiences may have been. We know our sons chicken (that we are thinking may be a rooster) is a americuana, hes got dark blackish gray legs, pink small comb and is all black at this time. but you're right, we are skeptical that the fellow in pictures is most likely the brown leghorns from his flock.

Thank you for your detailed response. i do appreciate it!

 

[Biddybot]

I bought chicklets earlier this summer and determined pretty early on that I was going to wind up with two buff Orpington cockerals for sure and five or six buff pullets (turned out to be five...other was an olive egger). Both cockerals are nice and worth keeping and are still getting long well with each other, probably because the bigger one was dominant from day one yet is not a bully, and the smaller subordinate has always readily submitted to him and does not seem very ambitious. They're also still getting on well with the five pullets, nothing obnoxious to date, and have given me no reason to keep them apart...

HOWEVER, the current peace can change in a heartbeat as everyone continues to mature and I've already seen some evidence that the subordinate cockerel plus two pullets have already formed a sub-flock within the buff flock. To accommodate any potential future fighting, I've already subdivided the buff pen into two separate pens, one large, one smaller, both with people-sized doors for me, and with a chicken-sized door at ground level in the poultry netting wall separating them for the actual pen inhabitants. Right now I've got the chicken door open so all the buffs can use both pens and the two separate feed/water stations, roosts, etc, but I can also slam their door shut at any time should I ever have to separate the roosters (and perhaps their respective pullets). If you built something similar--separate yet connected pens--you could likewise do like me and then kick back and hope for the best, yet be ready for the worst. It'll take a lot of the worry off, to be prepared ahead of time just in case, and even if you never had to separate anybody...well, it's probably more interesting for the birds to have two pens to hop back and forth between at their leisure anyway.

 

[ACurtis]

I bought chicklets earlier this summer and determined pretty early on that I was going to wind up with two buff Orpington cockerals for sure and five or six buff pullets (turned out to be five...other was an olive egger). Both cockerals are nice and worth keeping and are still getting long well with each other, probably because the bigger one was dominant from day one yet is not a bully, and the smaller subordinate has always readily submitted to him and does not seem very ambitious. They're also still getting on well with the five pullets, nothing obnoxious to date, and have given me no reason to keep them apart...

HOWEVER, the current peace can change in a heartbeat as everyone continues to mature and I've already seen some evidence that the subordinate cockerel plus two pullets have already formed a sub-flock within the buff flock. To accommodate any potential future fighting, I've already subdivided the buff pen into two separate pens, one large, one smaller, both with people-sized doors for me, and with a chicken-sized door at ground level in the poultry netting wall separating them for the actual pen inhabitants. Right now I've got the chicken door open so all the buffs can use both pens and the two separate feed/water stations, roosts, etc, but I can also slam their door shut at any time should I ever have to separate the roosters (and perhaps their respective pullets). If you built something similar--separate yet connected pens--you could likewise do like me and then kick back and hope for the best, yet be ready for the worst. It'll take a lot of the worry off, to be prepared ahead of time just in case, and even if you never had to separate anybody...well, it's probably more interesting for the birds to have two pens to hop back and forth between at their leisure anyway.

Thank you. I like is idea. its so hard not knowing right away what they are haha. in the past i got them sexed already so this is my first guessing game.