Is it OK to have two roosters in one backyard coop?

[Jenbo]

We bought 4 Buff Orpingtons chicks 5 weeks ago. (They are now 5 weeks old). We got them to have as pets, to enjoy fresh eggs and to have fun with our kids. They were supposed to be female, but I'm pretty sure we have two roosters. They act more aggressive and have markedly prominent combs compared to the other two. I think one even tried to crow. We love them all, but this is our first adventure with chickens and we live in a suburban area. Can two roosters live in the same coop? Will it drive us or our neighbors crazy to even have one? Are there people out there looking for roosters if we can't keep them? We are novices and would appreciate any advice.

 

[ChickNLittle]

It really depends on the roosters. Some get along, some fight. If you start seeing blood, you'll have to take one out. I would keep the one that is friendliest toward people.

Yes, rooster do drive some people crazy. They do crow at daylight. I wouldn't really worry about it unless you start getting a lot of complaints.

 

[GoodEgg]

Your roos wait till daylight to crow? Mine start a little after 4 am ...

That said, I do have 3 roos in one coop. They grew up together and are fine (so far). They are still young and that could of course change.

I think the problem can be having only 2 hens for 2 roos? If nothing else, they may be seriously overbred. I'm not sure, but I'm guessing a lack of sufficient hens will also make it a lot less likely for your boys to get along. I have 23 hens for my 3 roos.

Then again, I have only 2 ducks for my 2 drakes, and SO FAR everyone is fine with that.

(Except Kupo once tried -- I think that's what he was trying at least -- to mate with one of my baby gooses. The baby goose was having none of that though, and is about 3x the size of Kupo the drake, so it wasn't much of a problem)

trish

 

[Sahara]

Just watch them close and if they start fighting and pecking each other I would get rid of one of them. I had two that ran together and seemed to do fine but I had to get rid of them because my third rooster did not enjoy their presence.

 

[cluckychick]

I got 6 in with 19 hens, lol. All get along famously and I relize I will have to part with some but they haven't shown me a reason why. Two of them are like close buddies. Where's there's one there's always the other. None of them are standards though. I got 2 silkies, 1 polish, 1 frizzle, 1 bantam, and 1 bantam cochin. Ranging in ages from 8 weeks to 16 weeks.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Yes, we live in a town of 170 people. I put up signs in the post office and the library branch for our extra roos and they were gone within the week. Some people just like to watch the roosters strutting around the yard. My two get along okay, so long as the one continues to acknowledge that the other is the top roo, I expect the peace to continue. I think the noise factor and the fighting amongst roos would depend somewhat on the breed too.

 

[sara]

Being raised together they will probably be fine. One thing you will need to watch, if you only have the two buff orp pullets is that the roosters don't overbreed the girls. They can be really hard on them.

 

[Red]

Jenbo, we have 5 ten-week-old chicks in a coop together, and four of them turned out to be boys. They are fine with each other, and rarely even square-up to each other never mind actual fighting!

Sorry to thread-jack here, but if the boys grow up together (say they're brothers or whatever) does that mean they are more likely to get along when they are older?

 

[herechickchick]

I keep roosters in the city. At night once they have gone to roost I go into the coop and take them to thier house inside the garage. They have spacious dog kennels with feed and water that they sleep in and then around 8:30 - 9 am I let them out into the coop. It has worked very well for me and none of my neighbors mind. I have read if you raise the 2 boys together in most cases they get along fine. If they do get along just keep an eye on you girls in case they get to frisky and hurt one mating.

Good Luck