I have roosters? What now?!

[3nglishteacher]

My first run of chicks and out of 26, I think I have 4 roosters -- hatched Feb 26th and I DID order all gals, but I understand how these things can happen. But -- I know nothing about .... well, I was going to say roosters, but chickens would be more accurate. I'm not interested in having a bunch of young'uns to feed through the winter. Do I have to physically separate them -- new coop, etc? I wouldn't mind hatching out a few next spring but my original plan was to raise these for eggs thru summer and fall and then send most to the freezer so I wouldn't have to feed thru winter. Altho now, I'm wondering if I'll really have the heart to do that -- but that'll be another post. Thanks for help understanding roos!
Karen

 

[mmajw]

4 Roosters is alot for 22 hens. You should oing only have about 1 Roo per 10 hens. If you are going to keep all 4 you will need to keep them in a seperate pen or get more hens.

You can keep those 4 and only put one or two in with the ladies to get them fertile so you can hatch some eggs.

I vote get more hens......

 

[coopist]

Your problem with keeping roos won't automatically be offspring. Hens need to go broody for that, and they may or they may not, depending upon a lot of factors including age, breed, time of year, etc. But, yes, the eggs will end up being fertile if you keep roos, so it's a possibility later on. The problems with roosters are:

They crow
They may overmate the hens, causing bare backs
They may fight, if you have more than one
They may become aggressive with you or other humans, especially children

The benefits of roosters are:

They crow
They protect the flock, sometimes fighting to the death to protect their girls (yes, I have seen this happen)
With proper handling they can be gentle (this also depends on breed)
They're usually quite handsome to look at

I'd keep a couple of them. They may get along since they were reared together, and it'll add interest to your flock. Just be ready with the soup pot if necessary.