Keeping 2 roosters, alternating them with hens?

[Weeg]

I just got a new rooster. My old rooster Sam is super old, probably 7-9, our neighbors had a rooster that needed a home, so we decided to take him. We want to get cull our old hens in the spring, and get young ones again, so we were planning on culling Sam, and keeping his new young guy. Well, the men in the family decided they like him, and he was our pet, so they dont want to cull Sam.

So, I got to thinking. We have an extra pen within seeing range of the hens, it is kind of our sacrifice pen for injured hens, we could make a small run outside the coop, put the new rooster in the sacrifice pen at night for safety, and put him in the outside run during the day. Then, maybe we could alternate roosters. Put Sam in the extra pen/outside run for a week or a few days, and then trade and put the new roosters in the extra pen/outdoor run. Do you think this would work? I really do like Sam, he is really nice, doesn't attack us, and overall a good boy. Tell me your thoughts, hope it works!

 

[EmmaRainboe]

I just got a new rooster. My old rooster Sam is super old, probably 7-9, our neighbors had a rooster that needed a home, so we decided to take him. We want to get cull our old hens in the spring, and get young ones again, so we were planning on culling Sam, and keeping his new young guy. Well, the men in the family decided they like him, and he was our pet, so they dont want to cull Sam.

So, I got to thinking. We have an extra pen within seeing range of the hens, it is kind of our sacrifice pen for injured hens, we could make a small run outside the coop, put the new rooster in the sacrifice pen at night for safety, and put him in the outside run during the day. Then, maybe we could alternate roosters. Put Sam in the extra pen/outside run for a week or a few days, and then trade and put the new roosters in the extra pen/outdoor run. Do you think this would work? I really do like Sam, he is really nice, doesn't attack us, and overall a good boy. Tell me your thoughts, hope it works!

How many hens do you have?

 

[ackie]

I think they will both feel weird about it. I took a roo away from his 5 hens (hes free range now and they're locked up) and he just hangs out by himself around their coop and I feel bad for him.

 

[Weeg]

How many hens do you have?

I have 12 hens totally, but 4 of them are with our ducks because they were getting beat up, so only 8 hens in the coop with the rooster. Our run isn't big enough anyway, for 2 roosters to share. We don't have enough hens in the first place.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

I have 12 hens totally, but 4 of them are with our ducks because they were getting beat up, so only 8 hens in the coop with the rooster. Our run isn't big enough anyway, for 2 roosters to share. We don't have enough hens in the first place.

Ah okay, hmm I haven't tried the alternating method so unfortunatly I can't give you any info on that, hope someone here has tried that and can tell you whether or not it will work!

 

[Weeg]

Ah okay, hmm I haven't tried the alternating method so unfortunatly I can't give you any info on that, hope someone here has tried that and can tell you whether or not it will work!

Thank you! I hope it will work, I really want to keep both boys, and don't have to space for a rooster flock. Lets cross our fingers!

 

[EmmaRainboe]

Thank you! I hope it will work, I really want to keep both boys, and don't have to space for a rooster flock. Lets cross our fingers!

Hoping it will work out!

 

[cluckingheck]

Do you know how they react to each other? Sometimes you can add another rooster and not have any problems. I have 6 boys to 14 girls ( 5 were raised together with the hens, 1 was boughten recently and was supposed to be a hen ) and they’ve only been rough to the point of a few missing feathers on one particular hen; never scratched her up at all. they free range during the day, but all sleep in the same coop ( 15x12, I think ) with no issues. To me, I think it all boils down to the personality of the chickens themselves. Though, them being in a run might change things. Honestly, I think the best thing to do is to integrate before fully introducing the new rooster to the flock and to monitor everything. If you think they are overbreeding the hens, take him back out. This is the kind of thing you won’t know for sure until you try it.

though, getting more hens is definitely something to consider.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I have 12 hens totally, but 4 of them are with our ducks because they were getting beat up, so only 8 hens in the coop with the rooster. Our run isn't big enough anyway, for 2 roosters to share. We don't have enough hens in the first place.

Can you keep one of the roosters with the ducks?

 

[AquaDuck]

The best thing would be to either put both roosters in with the hens, or to keep them apart with a few hens each. I have many roosters and split them up in different pens, all with 2-3 hens each. I also have 2-3 roosters together in the main coop without a problem.

Putting one rooster alone in seeing distance to his hens will be rather traumatic to him. Also, when a rooster's been away from his hens and joins them again he'll go on a breeding spree and cause a lot of stress. So a permanent solution would be preferable.

Since you have some hens with the ducks, could one of the roosters go with them? Maybe the older one? I use that solution myself. Have had one old roo and one hen with the ducks all year without any problem.