Illinois...

[kfacres]

I have 6 roosters. 1 got injured somehow before bed one night. Really bad limp, but no visible issues. Decided to separate him for the night. The next morning I put him inside the coop in a corner. Another rooster seen that and went right in to show his dominance. I kept him isolated a few days until he was a little better. I have heard the time to re-introduce chickens is at night. I tried that, and didn't seem to have as many issues as far as fighting.

a. you have too many roosters.
b. it's virtually impossible to introduce, or reintroduce mature roosters together.

 

[eracerx46]

Without knowing my layout, coop, run, number of hens, etc. I don't think you can have a valid opinion on if I have too many.

These birds were hatched May 2nd of last year. They fight, and chase eachother but it hasn't been bad. I have re-introduced. Successfully. Believe what you want. I won't add any more roosters without culling. When my hens show signs of barebacks, I'll lower that number.

 

[snaffle]

Without knowing my layout, coop, run, number of hens, etc. I don't think you can have a valid opinion on if I have too many.

These birds were hatched May 2nd of last year. They fight, and chase eachother but it hasn't been bad. I have re-introduced. Successfully. Believe what you want. I won't add any more roosters without culling. When my hens show signs of barebacks, I'll lower that number.

Would you mind telling us how many chickens you have? How many hens? How many roosters?
'

 

[eracerx46]

 Would you mind telling us how many chickens you have? How many hens? How many roosters?
'

Sure why not. I have 6 roosters and 38 hens. 44 total. I know I'm a little low on my hen/rooster ratio. But like I said, the hens haven't shown any signs of a bareback.

 

[cavemanrich]

Sure why not. I have 6 roosters and 38 hens. 44 total. I know I'm a little low on my hen/rooster ratio. But like I said, the hens haven't shown any signs of a bareback.

I don't have any roos. and cant any ways, But I'm always interested in learning. Question;; Do your roosters each have a select group of hens, Or is it free for all. Or is it just the dominant gets , while the others just get to watch.?????

 

[eracerx46]

[VIDEO]Km[/VIDEO]

I don't have any roos. and cant any ways,   But I'm always interested in learning.    Question;;   Do your roosters  each have a select group of hens, Or is it free for all.  Or is it just the dominant gets , while the others just get to watch.?????

Mine each have their own little harem. I had a racoon wreak havoc a couple months ago. Took out my lead rooster and it was a total free for all. Now its all settled down. I have one BCM roo that has 4 or 5 leghorns and 2 BCM hens. If one hen starts squawking in the woods somewhere you'll see 3 or 4 roosters come running.

 

[snaffle]

Sure why not. I have 6 roosters and 38 hens. 44 total. I know I'm a little low on my hen/rooster ratio. But like I said, the hens haven't shown any signs of a bareback.

eracer I don't know what the recommended ratio is for roosters to hens. I have 21 hens and 2 roosters. The roosters are just under a year old. I will allow them to live together until one of them becomes dominant and they begin to fight. So far everyone is quiet and getting along.

As soon as I ever have a rooster begin to become dominant towards another,they never go back to the good ole boy. The aggressiveness has never subsided in any situations I have seen or heard about.

I hope that is not the case in your flock. Good luck.

 

[eracerx46]

eracer I don't know what the recommended ratio is for roosters to hens.  I have 21 hens and 2 roosters. The roosters are just under a year old. I will allow them to live together until one of them becomes dominant and they begin to fight. So far everyone is quiet and getting along.

As soon as I ever have a rooster begin to become dominant towards another,they  never go back to the good ole boy.  The aggressiveness has never subsided in any situations I have seen or heard about. 

I hope that is not the case in your flock. Good  luck.

For breeding purposes a good rule of thumb is 10-12 hens per rooster max. Any more and you could have fertility issues. Fighting happens with birds. Its not just to prove dominance, but to play. Mine don't really fight. The only time I have had any issues is when something has happened to the head rooster. Once when I had a raccoon kill the head guy, and a new order had to be established. The other when the new lead too got injured. He was picked on. But as soon as he was better, he reestablished himself.

The way I look at it, chickens made it this far acting like...well chickens. Who are we to try and modify that behavior? I'm not trying to condone it, but a little bit here and there is permissible. I'll step in if I have to, but its an extreme rarity. Granted people that have small children obviously cant find that acceptable. But I have no problems letting my chickens act like they did before people tried to domesticate them. That said, no way you'll see a Malay or O-Shamo chicken on my property. Too much testosterone.

 

[JustHenny]

We had 11 roos and 41 girls for a little while. No fighting, but bare backs started so we culled to three boys. And the absolutely huge JG is the lowest on the totem pole! They have their harems. It's kind of cute to see the girls groom and love on their boys!

 

[kfacres]

If a rooster is just around, running with a group of hens, and he's low on the pecking order- likely low enough that he's not breeding anything (when even in fact, it's likely you aren't hatching anything anyways).
WHAT GOOD DOES IT DO TO KEEP THEM? These things are expensive enough, I don't want any extra to feed.

My birds are worth enough it pays to keep a couple extra roosters around for breeding pens and backups- but to the average person I don't see the point. These birds here are valuable enough, I can't afford to put two males together and risk the chance of injury, or death. It would hurt financially, as well as to my breeding program.