Dilemma 5 Roos, 4 hens

[Mrs. K]

There are no rules to roosters. Just try this or that and recognize if it does or doesn't work.

Removing all of the roosters will dramatically drop the tension immediately. Most people do not recognize the tension until it is gone, but then it is very noticeable. That will affect how the roosters act immediately.

What I would try, is to remove your cockerels in stages:

• first cut any that you don't like, just get them out of the way
• 2nd cut - down to two remaining
• final cut

Generally pulling out roosters does cause an immediate change in the roosters behavior. The more you remove, the bigger the change. This summer I had 7 cockerels, and 1 mature rooster. I pulled out 6 and there was a big relaxation in the flock.

A week later, I pulled one more, down to two....waited a bit, and made a final decision.

If you can create a bachelor pad, it does allow you a bit of time before a final decision.

Mrs K