Is it still to early to tell gender !? And can you keep more than one rooster together?

[MMH27]

RIR chickens I have had them for about 4 weeks now,I numbered each one if that helps with The answers they will all still snuggle with each other every so often but they all also fight which I understand for pecking order but I have read that the fighting is normally Done with roosters not hens any experiences ? And if there is more than one rooster can I keep them together or is that not a good idea! Thank you in advance!

 

[Folly's place]

You won the lottery, if you wanted cockerels! There seems to be one pullet for sure, possible another, although that's questionable. Rotten luck but that's what getting straight run can do.
The biggest problem you will have is that there are way too many cockerels compared to your pullet numbers, and they will have an awful time in a couple of months.
It's normal for all chicks to spar a bit, establishing their ranks in the flock.
If you are a new chicken owner, with only young birds (get more pullets!!!) things will likely work out better if you rehome (or eat!) all those cockerels this year. Next year, you could raise some more chicks and maybe keep a nice cockerel as a flock rooster.
RIR's have a reputation for having a higher % of human aggressive roosters. That doesn't mean that yours will all be like that, but you may have a hard time sorting them out behaviorally this year.
Mary

 

[Acre4Me]

Yes, you can keep 2 males together...BUT, space needs to be available. Lots of space and visual disruptions, where one can get out of sight of the other, but not get cornered. An example would be pallet leaned up against the wall, but not in a corner. One will be the leader, and the other may or may not constantly fight for top spot. Also, you should have several females per male, and not really docile breeds. We had Salmon Faverolles Females -super chill and docile birds. Poor girls were the go-to pullets for mating, because they just didn’t do anything to avoid the constant mating as evidenced by their lack of feathers. So, we got rid of the SF so they could hopefully live in a more peaceful environment, sold one male, and penned the other away from the flock. We now have 2 males together with the flock, but no issues right now. If issues develop we already have a second pen ready for another male.

 

[Mamatomany123]

2 looks like the only pullet. All others look like cockerels.

Also, I see you said you bought a coop that said it's up to 4 chickens. I would double check. Most prefab coops claim to hold more birds than they really can. Chickens need 4 sq ft each in a coop and 10sq ft per chicken in a run. And that a minimum. The smallest coop and run acceptable for 4 chickens is 4x4 coop (not including nesting boxes) and a 5x8 run, give or take. Of course bigger is always better.

 

[Folly's place]

Move all those cockerels on elsewhere, unless you plan on eating them yourself!
I agree with @Mamatomany123 about checking your new coop and run; post some pictures, with dimensions, here!
As far as raising cockerels is concerned, I'm in the 'don't make pets of them' camp. They need to learn to respect your space, and not get cuddles.
You do need more pullets, and having RIRs, not Favorelles. The hatchery type orange RIRs tend to be tough, and SFs are sweet, and will bet picked on.
Mary

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Keeping cockerels together really depends on the cockerels. I have two that were raised together, introduced to the flock together, and still remain with the flock together. They don't fight that I've seen. The only thing I've seen is when one mates one of my hens, the other hovers over the pair and as soon as the first is done, the second jumps the poor hen. Both cockerels are araucana… I've heard that does make a difference.

 

[Angileen]

I have 4 roosters in my flock with 29 hens, I only wanted 3 but got a 4th by accident. You should have at least 10 hens per rooster or your hens will get overbred and tattered looking. All my breeds are supposed to be docile, my roosters are 1 Buckeye who loves to be held and is on the bottom of the pecking order, 1 Black Jersey Giant and 1 Midnight Majesty Marans who are about equal to each other and are next in the pecking order and 1 Lavender Orpington who is at the top of the pecking order. I figure he is at the top because of his size he is much larger than the others but he is really gentle. My roosters get along great and only have occasional mild arguments just to reinforce their pecking order, none of mine have been injured so far. They were all raised together as chicks. I have a Calico Princess Hen who is actually higher on the pecking order than my Roos. She chases the Roos around when they try to breed her and she will have stand offs where she puffs her feathers up, the Roosters always back down. Very rare that she ever gets bred. My Midnight Majesty Marans pecked me once when he was a juvenile but he thought he was protecting his hen I just picked up and who was making a terrible fuss. Instead of backing down I caught him and carried him around for a while to let him know who the boss is. He has never pecked me since. I would say to you if you keep your Rooster get more hens and make sure you hold him a lot and spend a lot of time with your Roos.

 

[Folly's place]

You could set up a rooster coop for them only, and hope that they don't really hurt each other, or become human aggressive. Personally it wouldn't be my choice, but some folks do it.
Your one or two pullets need more pullets, to the limits of their living space, and unless you have at least a few pullets and plenty of space, probably no cockerels, at least after they mature into young cock birds.
Mary

 

[Mamatomany123]

The chicken coop is 59”Lx31”w51”h has 4 nesting boxes and it’s inside of a cage that is a 12 by 12 and than on the outside of that it’s a fenced in yard for them once you open the actual cage p.s that tree branch isn’t on the cage it’s in woods behind ! Here is the link to the coop we got ! https://www.walmart.com/ip/ChickenC...th-4-Nesting-Box-59-L-x-31-W-x-51-H/580999201

That's not big enough for 4 chickens. I would go out and measure because I'm betting those measurements are including the nesting boxes. I tried to see and it says overall measurements which makes me believe it's with the nesting boxes. You need to measure just the living space for them.

 

[MMH27]

I have 4 roosters in my flock with 29 hens, I only wanted 3 but got a 4th by accident. You should have at least 10 hens per rooster or your hens will get overbred and tattered looking. All my breeds are supposed to be docile, my roosters are 1 Buckeye who loves to be held and is on the bottom of the pecking order, 1 Black Jersey Giant and 1 Midnight Majesty Marans who are about equal to each other and are next in the pecking order and 1 Lavender Orpington who is at the top of the pecking order. I figure he is at the top because of his size he is much larger than the others but he is really gentle. My roosters get along great and only have occasional mild arguments just to reinforce their pecking order, none of mine have been injured so far. They were all raised together as chicks. I have a Calico Princess Hen who is actually higher on the pecking order than my Roos. She chases the Roos around when they try to breed her and she will have stand offs where she puffs her feathers up, the Roosters always back down. Very rare that she ever gets bred. My Midnight Majesty Marans pecked me once when he was a juvenile but he thought he was protecting his hen I just picked up and who was making a terrible fuss. Instead of backing down I caught him and carried him around for a while to let him know who the boss is. He has never pecked me since. I would say to you if you keep your Rooster get more hens and make sure you hold him a lot and spend a lot of time with your Roos.

Thank you so much for the information we wanna do the most we can for them and give them a good life so any information helps out none of them are aggressive at all to my husband Daughter or myself they only peck when I have finger nail polish or something shiny we wanted to get a few more once we can get more space and can get them from someone who knows that they are hens ! And not just taking a chance !