Getting rid of a rooster

[jenn22712]

Hi all, I have 14 hens and 2 roosters that are 17 weeks old. We are looking into giving a friend one of our roosters and I was wondering if anyone knew if it would effect our hens at all? We just got our first eggs today and he has been mating a few of the girls.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It may temporarily stress them, or it may make them relieved depending on how they feel. You may or may not see a temporary decrease in eggs that shouldn't last more than a week or two. In the end they will be much happier without the extra rooster, as long as the remaining rooster is a good rooster.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I have to agree oldhen is right glad you joined us have a safe 4th

 

[keesmom]

Mine have always had a party when the extra males have left.

 

[lazy gardener]

Agree with Keesmom! While removing roos from the flock does relieve stress, I do note that my pullets like to hang out near the bachelor pen!

 

[andreanar]

My girls were so much friendlier once the roos left. They were tired of running from them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You don't have hens and roosters, you have pullet and cockerels. There can be a world of difference in their behaviors but it sounds like yours are going very well. At least you are worried about it becoming worse, not worrying about how to make it better. That's different than a lot of these posts and a good thing.

When you remove a chicken from your flock you can change flock dynamics. Part of that depends on how high up in the pecking order the chicken being removed is. It may or may not make much difference, a lot of that depending on the personalities of the individuals. This is one of two cockerels which potentially raises the stakes a bit.

There are a lot of different things that could happen, mainly in how the cockerels interact with the pullets. With two cockerels that age one is dominant. The dominant one could be restraining the actions of the not-dominant one. Often with two cockerels they stir up competition over the pullets, maybe leading to over-mating or stressing the pullets. If you keep both the conflict between them could escalate as they mature or they may be best of buddies. Removing one could cause a good effect or a bad, you don't get guarantees when it comes to chicken behaviors.

What I'd expect to happen if you remove one is that the remaining one will settle into the role of flock master. The cockerel and the pullets may go through some adolescent growing pains as they grow to maturity, but even going through that process the flock should be more settled than with two cockerels. There may be some short-term disruptions but overall you should wind up with a happier flock. If there is much disruption laying may be temporarily affected but those effects should not last long. At 17 weeks laying may be sporadic for a while anyway.

I don't know what your goals are for having chickens or why you want to keep a rooster. We all have different goals. Without knowing your goals I think getting rid of one is probably a pretty positive step.

 

[RedDrgn]

It will affect them, but how much and whether positive or negative is entirely flock dependent. Like people, every chicken/flock, is different.

If you have two cockerels, getting rid of one may change the behavior of the one you keep, though at 17 weeks I don't think it will be too much since their likely just into teenage hormone rampage phase and are more prone to bouts of over-zealous mating attempts and aggression, anyway. It will largely depend on whether one is the obvious alpha or not and which you're choosing to remove from your flock.

 

[Fairview01]

In as few as words possible, they will move on if they even notice. They're chickens.

Egg production is neither enhanced of negatively affected by the presence or absence of a rooster.

If your goal is to hatch fertile eggs, many will be infertile on day 7 when candled. Even 2 roosters would have a hard time servicing that many hens.

 

[jenn22712]

Thank you all. The one we are thinking of giving to a friend (jersey giant) seems to be the dominant one. Constantly crows. High strung, constantly chases and mates the girls non stop to where they run and hide. Won't allow hens to eat near him. Our other boy (dark brahma) is laid back, not crowing yet but always keeps an eye on the girls and interferes when the other gets to be a bit much for the girls. Has not starting mating yet. Every once and awhile the boys will face off and surprising our jersey is the one to back down. I would keep both as they both seem to bring good qualities to the flock however we just aren't looking to have 2 boys and are afraid of them truly fighting each other. And our jersey does seem to be stressing the girls out.