- Mar 31, 2009
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So I have 20 chickens, and after waiting, I can confirm that I have 2 German Spitz roos, 2 yokohama roos, 1 mottled houdan roo, 1 rose comb banty roo.
I suspect a RIR banty might be a roo, but not sure, and the speckled sussex (or spangled OEG) that I thought was a roo, I'm not sure anymore (doesn't have a tail yet, so hard to tell).
I've read that this is way too many roos for the leftover hens. They are all 12 weeks old, and spend most of their day in the coop with the hens, and I've started to let them all out to free range when I get home from work, then shut them in at night.
Some look too puny to be worth making soup out of them, and I've frankly fallen in love with most of the roos and I'm wondering, is there a way to keep them all? (I will definitely get rid of any that threaten me and can be a threat to my 2 year old). But so far, they are all very gentle, loving, and love to be petted and held.
When I'm around, I never witness any fighting between them, but the coop is littered with feathers, so I'm assuming when I'm not watching that they are fighting. So far I can't see any injuries in anyone, but they are still fairly young.
Any suggestions of how to keep them all without buying more hens? If I have to keep all but one separate from the hens, how do you pick the rooster that gets to be with the hens?
And what sort of housing would the other boys need? Would they allways have to be separated? Can they all free range together during the day? Or free range separate?
Thanks
I suspect a RIR banty might be a roo, but not sure, and the speckled sussex (or spangled OEG) that I thought was a roo, I'm not sure anymore (doesn't have a tail yet, so hard to tell).
I've read that this is way too many roos for the leftover hens. They are all 12 weeks old, and spend most of their day in the coop with the hens, and I've started to let them all out to free range when I get home from work, then shut them in at night.
Some look too puny to be worth making soup out of them, and I've frankly fallen in love with most of the roos and I'm wondering, is there a way to keep them all? (I will definitely get rid of any that threaten me and can be a threat to my 2 year old). But so far, they are all very gentle, loving, and love to be petted and held.
When I'm around, I never witness any fighting between them, but the coop is littered with feathers, so I'm assuming when I'm not watching that they are fighting. So far I can't see any injuries in anyone, but they are still fairly young.
Any suggestions of how to keep them all without buying more hens? If I have to keep all but one separate from the hens, how do you pick the rooster that gets to be with the hens?
And what sort of housing would the other boys need? Would they allways have to be separated? Can they all free range together during the day? Or free range separate?
Thanks