I'm in the process of creating a separate rooster pen. We have 6 roos to 11 hens, which is way too many. It creates constant drama (I'm bigger. No, I'm bigger!), plus several of them like to tag-team Lucille, my poor Cornish X, repeatedly. I'm too squeamish to cull them in the usual sense, and I've tried to rehome the extra boys, but sadly, nobody wants roosters. They are fine-looking roos, and sweet in their own way, so I wanted to work out a way to keep them.
I fenced in a separate area for the excess boys and put a small coop in there for them. Now they have their own clubhouse! Their pen is a retrofitted horse paddock and very open, so I built a couple of "tents" out of old pallets so the boys have some shade and protection. I still have a little work to do (we had an escapee to the girls' side yesterday), but It's amazing how much quieter it becomes out there, instantly, even with only 3 of my roos segregated. I'm keeping my two "best" roos in with the girls -- they are quick to protect their girls, and call them for treats -- plus Hummer, my little silkie roo, who has cojones of steel but is too small to be much of a problem to anyone.
Anyway, my question is...with 3-4 roos in their own hen-free fraternity, are they likely to fight with each other at some point? They are pretty calm out there now, but they're just 23 weeks old. Anything I should watch out for, other than the obvious?
I fenced in a separate area for the excess boys and put a small coop in there for them. Now they have their own clubhouse! Their pen is a retrofitted horse paddock and very open, so I built a couple of "tents" out of old pallets so the boys have some shade and protection. I still have a little work to do (we had an escapee to the girls' side yesterday), but It's amazing how much quieter it becomes out there, instantly, even with only 3 of my roos segregated. I'm keeping my two "best" roos in with the girls -- they are quick to protect their girls, and call them for treats -- plus Hummer, my little silkie roo, who has cojones of steel but is too small to be much of a problem to anyone.
Anyway, my question is...with 3-4 roos in their own hen-free fraternity, are they likely to fight with each other at some point? They are pretty calm out there now, but they're just 23 weeks old. Anything I should watch out for, other than the obvious?
