Flock dynamics?

[chickiepoo]

I have five hens, one roo, one 7 week-old pullet, and a 7 week-old cockerel, that I am going to have to get rid of cause he is full sibling to the pullet. They are completely free range. By that I mean that they stay within an acre, but there are no fences, no neighbors for a half-mile radius, They have grass for grazing, horse pasture and brushy woods for scratching. They have a coop with nesting boxes in it, but they go in there only to lay or set eggs. They come up when I call them for treats several times a day.

The question is, do you think I can handle another roo without problems? He just started crowing. My rooster is probably about 2. One of our new members lives about one and a half hours from us and she just discovered she has a roo and city ordinances are a problem. Unfortuntely, it has been their favorite of the bunch, the friendliest, most pettable, etc. I'd love to have him. but I don't want my wants to take precedence over the best interests of my flock or her rooster.

What do you think?

 

[chickiepoo]

I am not joking, I don't know! I think with all the room we have it would be okay. The hen with the two young ones still hasn't fully brought them in with the rest. I wait for over an hour on the deck to let the roo and the rest of the hens get their treats before Lucy will bring her kiddies in to have treats. I have another hen that I know is setting and one that I see only occasionally that I am pretty sure is setting.

My point is, they seem to be able to separate themselves naturally. I was just looking for some confirmation for that.

Truthfully, I don't want to sound like a brat, but I am confused as to why I had 30 hits on this and no responses whatsoever. Have I been rude to anyone? If I have I apologize.

 

[speckledhen]

Don't think too much of no one answering yet. Sometimes the weekends can be slow and sometimes people just dont know the answer.
My opinion is that you may be able to take on another rooster, but it may be tricky to add one that your rooster has never seen before. Secondly, you really dont have the best number of hens for two roosters right now. Your hens would probably suffer. In my opinion, you'd be better off keeping the young cockerel you already have since he is already running with the flock, if I understand your post correctly. There isn't a terrible problem with two of them being full siblings anyway unless you've been doing generations of inbreeding with sibs. At least, that's the idea I've gotten from other genetics people. If you don't want to do that, I think I would just keep your rooster and not take on another one with the number of hens you currently have. Now, you could get a few more hens to make the ratio better, but if you do decide to get the rooster (how old is he?), you need to keep him separate from your flock for awhile to be sure he is completely healthy. Then you would need to pen him where the others could see him and get acquainted through a fence before letting him loose. That's the way I would do it, if I was going to.
Honestly, the only way to really know is to do it. It's hard to be a chicken psychologist, LOL. I do think you need more hens if you get another rooster, though.

 

[chickiepoo]

speckledhen, The cockerel (oops if he is crowing I reckon he is a roo) is about 18 weeks. Just started crowing. This newbie is also gonna be looking for some help in the political arena as they are gonna attempt to change the ordinances. As my DH has no problem with more chickens, I think I will ask if I can take the cockerel.
Thanks so much for your help.
Paula

P.S. Oh meant to mention that my aunt has a vacation home outside of Clayton, Ga. Is that near you? I haven't been there but I understand that it isn't near anything!

 

[speckledhen]

Paula, Clayton is a couple of counties east of me. I'm in Fannin and Clayton is in Rabun County.
I think if you had more hens for two roosters to have enough, after some initial sparring and fighting, they'd eventually work it out. And good for you, helping to change those darn ordinances! I wish they'd make ordinances against really obnoxious noises rather than roosters crowing.

 

[rooster-red]

If you get more hens I think the roo's will work it out, especially if they aren't penned in together.
speckledhen gave some great advise about introducing the roo's.

 

[BeckyLa]

We have a flock of 14, two of which are roos. They were all raised together. They are just now beginning to lay, the hens that is. It seems in this flock that the roos have their few favorites and they constantly compete for those 2 or 3. Always, continually, chasing the hen down then trying to breed her with one roo on top of the other. It just is not working out even with them free ranging. With my other flocks I have one roo in a pen with his hens. Now, to your question, based on my experience I would say only one roo for that few hens. If you want to keep all 3 roos they should each have their own pen/coop and their own hens. And if your pens are next to each other, and if you don't want the roos bloodying themselves continually by fighting each other through the fencing, be sure they can't see each other.

imho

 

[rooster-red]

I know that bloody comb look all too well.

 

[chickiepoo]

Thank-you all so much. I promise to let you know( whether you want to or not)Yuk Yuk how it all works out. I have room for more chickens, so I am going to go for it, unless DH backs out. And he bought all the other ones.

Thanks,