Help! Chicken Game of Thrones! Who do I put where?

[Aunt Angus]

I'd help, but I'm in California. If you need help, it might do to advertise for it. The high school where I work has a shop class that searches for that type of work and does it for the cost of materials (free labor). There might be something like that you could look into.

I'm a vegetarian, too, and I won't kill my cockerels. If I were in your situation, I would do whatever I could to get a "bachelor coop" set up as soon as possible. Check Craigslist free ads for things you can use. For what it's worth, I was able to build 2 coops for about $250 total. I could have done it cheaper if I hadn't splurged on paint and nice roofing material. I work full time and go to school. I worked whenever I had time, including at night with flashlights.

No man did the work for me. The only person who helped was my 74 year old mom, who helped me assemble my large coop's framing.

I feel for you. I really do. You clearly love your birds and want what's best for them. Unfortunately, you can't provide what's best for them right now. I hope getting that coop done in October solves your ills. In the meantime, I'd separate the biggest problem chickens (aggressive roos, bully hens) into the dog houses or the smaller pen you describe. I would not let my girls be over-mated. My birds don't like when I changed their routine and confined them for a few weeks when hawks plagued us. But you know what? They adjusted, and now they're perfectly happy in their run. Being separated may stress them out now, but your chickens may adjust, too. Gotta do right by them. This site is overrun by people with unwanted cockerels and roosters. And not everyone eats their roos. Search up solutions others have found.

I currently have 2 cockerels, 4 hens, and 2 pullets. I have too many boys, too. But they get along so far. If I have issues with fighting or overly aggressive mating, I will absolutely do right by my girls and either separate my boys or rehome them. If I can't rehome them, I'd rehome my girls as it's far more likely laying hens and pullets would be adopted, and keep the boys. That might be a viable solution for you, too, if you are done with chickens, as you say.

I think you are underestimating yourself. You can solve this problem. Think it through logically and compassionately. And realistically.

 

[LeggyLeghorn]

you need to remove some of your cockerels, some how. I would plan ahead carefully the next time you hatch a clutch. This situation you have would not exist in nature. and when you are not looking, someday something not nice could happen. cocks will kill and so will hens. your birds all sound agitated.

yes, you can solve this situation.

 

[Kris5902]

My suggestions are simply 1: no more hatching or straight run anything 2: maybe look into buying more pullets if you can, just to keep the boys happy 3: get some of those cockerels separated out into a bachelor pen ASAP, preferably out of sight of the girls... it might work or it might not. I had 12 boys in one 6x12 tractor; I’m now down to three carefully selected based on breed and personality, as well as how they got on together.

Two boys suffered far too much (imo) before they were processed for food (my choice, doesn’t have to be yours, not being judgmental or suggesting it) and I feel guilt over their experiences, though I know it was due to my inexperience and having to learn on my own, with just help from this site and the people here (mostly a learning curve in chicken psychology) I really didn’t want to part with any of those boys, and tried very hard to accommodate them within my means on our very large property. It was not doing right by them or kind, but of those 12 I found 3 that could survive realitively peaceably together (there’s still a lot of feathers scattered and the occasional tiff around roosting time though)

10-12 hens per Rooster average, do the math and you’re going to have a either a very large flock, or overbred, stressed/raped to death hens unless you can separate the cockerels out in a peaceful way. You will find what works for you and your flock, and there is no one size fits all solution to this dilemma.

But for all I can advise with my limited experience here’s my suggestions :
1: protect and isolate your girls. Give them one nice BF and privacy if possible
2: give your bachelors as much space as possible
3: identify and isolate/eliminate your “undesirables”, boys that just won’t get along or boys that are too beaten up by the others. Relocation or culling is kinder than allowing someone to be slowly tortured or starved to death by the others cockerels. Start with the human aggressive jerks and work your way to peace from there.

Your other option is to acquire 10-20 more females for each Roo and set up separate areas for them all. That’s my end goal, and I’m just thankful my bachelor pen of 3 is cooperating so far! Granted, I have 600 acres and lots of lumber to work with! Assess your situation and act accordingly for the good of your hens. Guys are great and all, but the girls need space and respect too! (From the cockerels, that is!)

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

My suggestions are simply 1: no more hatching or straight run anything 2: maybe look into buying more pullets if you can, just to keep the boys happy 3: get some of those cockerels separated out into a bachelor pen ASAP, preferably out of sight of the girls... it might work or it might not. I had 12 boys in one 6x12 tractor; I’m now down to three carefully selected based on breed and personality, as well as how they got on together.

Two boys suffered far too much (imo) before they were processed for food (my choice, doesn’t have to be yours, not being judgmental or suggesting it) and I feel guilt over their experiences, though I know it was due to my inexperience and having to learn on my own, with just help from this site and the people here (mostly a learning curve in chicken psychology) I really didn’t want to part with any of those boys, and tried very hard to accommodate them within my means on our very large property. It was not doing right by them or kind, but of those 12 I found 3 that could survive realitively peaceably together (there’s still a lot of feathers scattered and the occasional tiff around roosting time though)

10-12 hens per Rooster average, do the math and you’re going to have a either a very large flock, or overbred, stressed/raped to death hens unless you can separate the cockerels out in a peaceful way. You will find what works for you and your flock, and there is no one size fits all solution to this dilemma.

But for all I can advise with my limited experience here’s my suggestions :
1: protect and isolate your girls. Give them one nice BF and privacy if possible
2: give your bachelors as much space as possible
3: identify and isolate/eliminate your “undesirables”, boys that just won’t get along or boys that are too beaten up by the others. Relocation or culling is kinder than allowing someone to be slowly tortured or starved to death by the others cockerels. Start with the human aggressive jerks and work your way to peace from there.

Your other option is to acquire 10-20 more females for each Roo and set up separate areas for them all. That’s my end goal, and I’m just thankful my bachelor pen of 3 is cooperating so far! Granted, I have 600 acres and lots of lumber to work with! Assess your situation and act accordingly for the good of your hens. Guys are great and all, but the girls need space and respect too! (From the cockerels, that is!)

 

[therese13]

Help! I have a Chicken Game of Thrones. I don’t know what my next move is. I let my chickens have babies and now it’s a mess! I do no not want to kill any of the roosters! Nobody will adopt them so that’s out. Here are the players:

Born April 2018:

Angel – Easter egg rooster, tries to kill me but not bad with the girls
Perky – frizzle naked neck, nut job, mostly defeathered, runs around screaming
Billie – calm black frizzle cochin, nothing bothers her, slow, a lot of father loss
Daffy – broody gray frizzle brahma, now sitting again on nothing, dominant when she gets off nest

Born April 2019, hatched and raised by Perky but Billie is the biological mother of most except Dusty who I think Daffy is the mother:

Georgia – huge black cockerel, crows now
Dusty – huge gray cockerel with feather feet
Iris – huge white cockerel
Hope – smaller white cockerel, I love "her"
Ariel – white frizzle pullet
Dulcinea – black frizzle pullet; I think she’s laying eggs

Their accommodations consist of the following:

Main house with power and roosts = 38 ft2
Main run with tons of roosts = 233 ft2
Quarantine house (two sides only, no roosts, no roof) = 27 ft2
Quarantine run (two tiny roosts) = 56 ft2
The quarantine house and run consist of 23% of the total square footage.

The cockerels mostly get along. Sometimes they puff up and show off but no physical contact that I have witnessed. The older hens bully the younger hens and used to bully the cockerels but now the cockerels are trying to gang rape Perky who runs around screaming. Last night, she was insane. I was able to catch her and put a dress on for the first time but that made her heavier, and she couldn’t get out of the way of the rapists. This morning, she was in the quarantine house area looking half dead so I closed her in. I got the other four hens in there with her. They all hate it. The girls are slamming in to the wire to try to join the boys and vice versa. They want to be together. The pullets are bullied by the hens and have no place to go but they are safe from their brothers. But, they love their brothers, spending all day with them. I've only seen the pullets jumped a few times.

The problem with keeping birds full time in the quarantine area is that the contractors never finished that area so the house only has two sides (fully enclosed though) and holes in the roof so it’s not rain or wind proof. The quarantine house was supposed to have electricity too but it does not so no light, no water heater in winter, and no heaters. It was also supposed to have a door to the outside but it doesn’t so I have to fight my way to the quarantine run through the main run and any roosters in there. The door in to there is huge (for a wheel barrow to fit) so it’s very hard for me to get in and out without birds getting past me. There are also only two tiny roosts in the quarantine area while the main run and house are full of them. I'm going to try to jerry-rig a roost in there tonight. I can’t fix this all up myself. I have no friends to help. I don’t have a day off until the end of October when a 60-year-old handyman is supposed to come and maybe put more sides on the house. So, I have two areas, one nice and huge and one small and not set up properly for chickens. Who should I put where for now and after it's fixed up? I had planned to put Georgia, Dusty, and Iris in the smaller area after it was fixed up, leaving the 5 hens and 2 roosters in the main area. I've had two roosters at a time before, it can be done. Now, I’m thinking I just want to keep males and females apart completely. But, the small area is just too small and not fair to anyone! Perky is attacking Ariel and Dulcinea in there even though Perky herself should be half dead from the rapings. Should I just put them all together again? Leave the girls in the tiny inadequate run to suffer (but not be raped)? Put some of the roosters in there instead (where the close quarters may mean fights)? At some point, someone is going to die but it might be me! I'm never letting my chickens have babies again. I guess I'll just have to wait for them to die off to get things back under control but that could be 10 years (my oldest rooster was 10). And, once again, I remind you that I am not going to murder my roosters! As my late mother said when asked how she could eat chickens but not her own chickens, she said, "I didn't know that chicken." I know my babies, and each is beautiful with a different personality.

 

[therese13]

I know it's hard, but you need to part with most of your cockerels and roosters. Decide on the reason to have them first. Are they for breeding? Or do you just want eggs? If eggs, you don't need any roosters. The hens will not lay well if they are constantly being stressed by the roos. For 10 hens, you only need 1. You can take them to an auction and hope for the best. If you continue as things are, the Roos will begin fighting as they get older, and things will get messy. Only other thing would be to free range them if possible, to give them more room. Good luck!

 

[Fishychick]

The chickens are not for breeding or eggs. They are my "pets." I hate that word because I don't believe one can own a living being but people think I'm nuts if I call them my "children." I give away the eggs to my brother and co-worker. I absolutely do NOT plan to get more chickens (via buying eggs, letting a hen brood eggs, or buying chicks or adults). In a decade, when they're all gone, I may try a different species. I had a pair of wild turkeys in the 80's. If you think being throttled by a rooster is bad, try a tom turkey! Maybe I should go bigger! Peacocks! Or smaller, pheasants, who knows. I'm just living in today. Today, the chickens are mostly getting along. The roosters get along better with each other than hens do. That may change, of course.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

The chickens are not for breeding or eggs. They are my "pets." I hate that word because I don't believe one can own a living being but people think I'm nuts if I call them my "children." I give away the eggs to my brother and co-worker. I absolutely do NOT plan to get more chickens (via buying eggs, letting a hen brood eggs, or buying chicks or adults). In a decade, when they're all gone, I may try a different species. I had a pair of wild turkeys in the 80's. If you think being throttled by a rooster is bad, try a tom turkey! Maybe I should go bigger! Peacocks! Or smaller, pheasants, who knows. I'm just living in today. Today, the chickens are mostly getting along. The roosters get along better with each other than hens do. That may change, of course.

I really hope you're just being facetious as your problem will only grow the bigger you go. I know they seem to be getting along NOW but you will continue to have problems if you do nothing. Just wishing the problem away just delays the inevitable. The only magic wand you will find is at the hardware store. Try putting out an ad for a handyman or take a look in the coop design thread for inspirational pictures. I'm sure you can come up with a solution. My chicks are my pets as well. I love each and everyone of them so I understand why you do not want to part with them. If you want to bring a cockeral or two inside to solve your problem until a new coop can be built they sell chicken diapers on Amazon

 

[Fishychick]

As I said, I have a handyman coming on my next day off at the end of October to finish off the quarantine house so it's useable. The quarantine house and run area is only 23% of the entire area so I can only put three of the cockerels in there. They get along great now; when confined, it may get messy between those three. I would rehome them if anybody would take them but not one person responded to my ads because nobody wants pet roosters. I will leave Daddy and Hopey with the girls. Hope is the smallest male and was rejected by all the others. Only Daddy likes him. Hopey follows him around like a puppy. Twice in the past, I had hens with two roosters, and I/they could manage.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

As I said, I have a handyman coming on my next day off at the end of October to finish off the quarantine house so it's useable. The quarantine house and run area is only 23% of the entire area so I can only put three of the cockerels in there. They get along great now; when confined, it may get messy between those three. I would rehome them if anybody would take them but not one person responded to my ads because nobody wants pet roosters. I will leave Daddy and Hopey with the girls. Hope is the smallest male and was rejected by all the others. Only Daddy likes him. Hopey follows him around like a puppy. Twice in the past, I had hens with two roosters, and I/they could manage.

Wonderful. The roos should be fine by themselves. I doubt it will get messy. If there's no hens to fight over they shouldnt fight. Let us know how it goes.