Is this a roo or a hen?

[MadamPoofyBrow]

Well with those two being boys I’m up to about 6 or 7 roosters now.
The EE was supposed to be a female

Gotcha. In that case, you may want to weed out a couple of the more ‘enthusiastic’ ones. But again, if your hens are looking fine and nobody seems stressed, even seven could be fine. It all depends on the chicken

 

[ariri30]

would you advise getting rid of the small black one? He’s the one I find biting on a bunch of the other birds and holding on while they drag him a foot or so.
So far the others seem to be ok. But no ones laid eggs yet and the EE is the only one I think I saw trying to shoulder surf yesterday(even though they aren’t laying yet)

The poor cockerels are just hormones crazy right now. They will mellow a bit but you have to have a lot of patience if you want to keep them. I’m dealing with the same situation right now. I have about seven cockerels right now and I’m getting rid of four today that my best friend is more than happy to cull since I don’t have the guts to do it or eat them . I’m keeping three. One is a tiny bantam that is a year old that is keeping the girls safe from the crazy cockerels until they realize they are bigger than the poor bantam rooster. Good luck to you and your flock

 

[Rooapalooza]

would you advise getting rid of the small black one? He’s the one I find biting on a bunch of the other birds and holding on while they drag him a foot or so.
So far the others seem to be ok. But no ones laid eggs yet and the EE is the only one I think I saw trying to shoulder surf yesterday(even though they aren’t laying yet)

If I were you I would wait a bit before deciding who to cull. Their personalities change a lot as they settle into adulthood. In my experience it doesn't matter so much how many roosters you have as what their personalities are. One rooster can be a huge stress for any size flock if he's a jerk. They often will only bully specific hens but it disturbs the whole flock. Meanwhile you could keep all seven roosters and not have any problems if they have good personalities.
Wait and see if any attack you (if that bothers you), crow excessively (if that bothers you) or start to be really aggressive with any hens.
For me, once a bird has proven himself to be a problem, it's a lot easier to feel okay about culling him.

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

You've got two cockerels.

Others have addressed the hen to roo ratio, but you had some questions about fence jumping.

I'd clip wings. Just one wing per bird. Get a sharp scissors and cut the primaries. Stay below the coverts. No blood, and its harmless to your chickens. There are plenty of YouTube videos on how to do it. You'll probably want a helper, someone to keep the bird calm and another to use the scissors.

I'd only clip the wings of the birds who are regularly escaping. If you do have a fox, you'll want to keep wing clipping to a minimum so the others can escape of the fox ever gets into the coop.

 

[Birds of a Feather]

They’re both cockerels.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Oh no, I have a bunch of different birds crowing. From one post somewhere apparently the alpha crows first then the others in order of dominance. I think I’ve caught the small one crowing but it’s hard as I’m not always out there and with 40 birds I can’t spot which ones doing it lol.

Post pics of all the ones with these.

 

[RW1984]

Post pics of all the ones with these. View attachment 2289978

Post pics of all the ones with these. View attachment 2289978

I’ve attached most of the ones I’ve found with what appear to be the male trait. I think I missed one. I’ve got one with combs and wattles but no saddle feathers so I’m going to guess it’s a female?

 

[TheOddOneOut]

I’ve attached most of the ones I’ve found with what appear to be the male trait. I think I missed one. I’ve got one with combs and wattles but no saddle feathers so I’m going to guess it’s a female?

All pics are of roosters or cockerels.

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

All pics are of roosters or cockerels.

X2.