I read in chicken book that if roosters are kept away from hens that it's okay to put them all together. The book says that if roosters are put in a cage/pen with all roosters (no hens in sight) that fighting is almost nonexistant. Is this true????
Generally this is true, there are always exceptions. They absolutely must not be able to see the girls and it probably helps if they don't hear them too. Separate them from females at about 8 weeks of age, definitely if you start to see signs of mating displays (wing dragging, grabbing and holding neck feathers). It's best to do this when they are chicks and raised together. Once they are adults and have been exposed to mating, it's a lot harder for them to all "get along".
I'm not sure...I had four roosters in with 10 hens & never had any issues...but they are all very laid back. I now have three roosters in with one hen & still no issues.
I'm going to have a few roosters for breeding purposes, and rather than have to keep them all together or separate I was hoping I could just put them in a pen out of sight of the girls. I can't put them out of earshot but I can put them out of sight. I would also cover their run so they can't get out. I'm gonna have 8 roos to start, two for each breed. Does anyone know anything about line breeding, or should I start another thread??? Thanks for the input, people!!!
I find if I keep the roos together and they find out they have NO chance what so ever with any girls, they figure out a pecking order and that is that. However, add just one potential girl with the bunch and I'll end up with a all out fighting mess. I am speaking of mature roosters that are at least 6 months old.
There is a problem with what I understand you are planning on doing. You will be taking roosters out of the community pen to put with hens for breeding. When you are done with that rooster, you plan on putting him back in with the other roosters. This will result in a bloody fight, and maybe even death. Roosters can stay together, but they have to be left together. You can't take them out and put them back in. At least that is the way it works here. Someone may have some different advise that may work for you. Jean
