Is it true that roosters will not fight much (if at all) if...

[la dee da]

Is it true that roosters will not fight much (if at all) if they are in their own coop/run with no hens? I read this in a chicken book and I keep wondering if it's true. I especially am fond of RIR but have been reading on here that the roos can be aggressive twoards each other?
I have no chickens yet but would love to have RIR someday.

Sorry about the subject line, hehe couldn't keep it short enough

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[Omran]

I really don't know the right answer, but I think it depends on the roosters you will have, some of them might get along good together if they never see a hen some might not.

 

[conroy]

I think they might still fight... maybe not as bad...

 

[chickenpiedpiper]

I have 4 roos in my flock, all free range together. Chester is my alpha roo, and even at half thier size, he keeps the other younger roos in line. no fights, just chased around, and occasionally a good peck or two. The three youngsters all grew up together, and still hang out together. They roost seperately, but forage near each other. All three hop on the hens tho, and I think my hens are getting a bit peeved at this, so we are looking for good homes for them...

 

[DTchickens]

depends on the breeds, if a game breed. definately. if some of the other territorial breeds (RIRs, are one to name). Still possible.. its true that hens make them fight often, but they'll still battle over territory

 

[la dee da]

So if I don't want roosters that fight I just have to make sure I keep the ones that get along? Unless I want hatching eggs I don't want hens in with the roos because the idea of eating what could be a fertile egg makes me sick (picky, I know). I do want to be able to hatch and raise my own birds (when I get them...which could take several years) so I do want to have roosters. Is it possible for a roo to be happy if I'm forced to house him alone? I'm probably going to be asking a lot of questions, so I hope you all like to answer crazy questions

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[Emzyyy]

I had three rooster's before this new flock in one dog run and they got along perfectly once in awhile a little spar, but they never hurt one another. I had a golden sebright bantam roo, a splashed modern bantam roo, and a Old English Game Bantam roo in one pen. Now I got 16 more birds my old roosters still get along perfectly but they don't like the new roosters as well. So I suggest if you get roos you raise them together from a young age and handle them alot.

 

[Eggseronious]

If you have raised them together, they aren't too bad to fight. They have a pecking order though. Its when you introduce new stock that the fighting gets pretty bad.

 

[Poohbear]

You can keep a roo in a large enclosed pen with several breeding hens and they will be happy. The more hens, the larger the pen. As close to natural as possible. Roos fight for the same thing men fight for. Food, Sex and Domination. If you keep your roo enclosed with just the hens you want to breed, you will know the hens outside the pen are NOT fertilized and the hens inside the pen ARE fertilized. That way you can hatch chicks from your penned (fertile) hens and eat the eggs from the hens OUTSIDE the pen that are NOT fertile.

 

[la dee da]

I would only want fertile eggs when I'm willing to hatch them though...and I'd probably want a lot of them since I loooove chicken. I've read that the chicks do best (grow faster/bigger) if you hatch them early in the year so that's when I'd want to do all of the hatching. *sigh* I guess I'm just a little nutty dreamer

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