Keeping Bachelors with babies

[NellaBean]

I have a single RIR cockerel that is too rough with the girls. He is just Mr hormones (probably about 22 weeks old) and will. not. leave. them. alone. So I have him locked up in a separate pen during the day (8x8) while I try to find him a new home (or pot). I do have a larger pen approx 16x24 available in a few days, once I fix the coop addition (aka..build it from scratch). I have 11 (argh) 8 week old cockerels that need a place to go...actually they are part of a group of 22 the same age, the others are 8 pullets plus 3 brahma chicks that I cannot tell sex on (I think 2 cockerels, 1 pullet). ANYWAYS, does anyone keep bachelor roosters with babies? My big roosters out in the big yard have no interested in "young" chickens and ignore them until they are laying age. I really need to get this big RIR boy out of the smaller pen, so I can move the pullets and an injured chicken into there.....if I put him with 11+ LARGE cockerels (Jersey Giant crosses, so they are about the same size as my 12 week old RIR Pullets) in the bigger pen, what do you think will happen? My RIR boy is bottom of the totem pole, other than chasing the girls for breeding stuff.

 

[NellaBean]

Anybody? I don't think I would keep him with just 1 or 2 of the younger boys, but with 11 to harrass, seems like it might work.

Anyone keep any Roosters with "younguns"?

 

[Kittymomma]

I don't know. I think that falls into the could be fine or it could be tragic category. If you really need to move him I'd go ahead and try it, just plan on spending some time with them so you can supervise and intervine if neccesary.

 

[NellaBean]

Yes, I guess I will throw the babies out into the big pen, while the RIR roo is still in the small one....so the RIR roo can see them through the fence (it shares a fenceline, hardware cloth so no injuries possible)....and see what happens. He has not been aggressive at all towards any of the chickens, other than just overbreeding the poor slow cochins. I did not expect to still have the young cockerels so they are getting overcrowded in the growout shed. I figure I will make a small coop next to my big coop, just to house them all at night, and let them use the (currently empty) big pen.

 

[Tala]

My rooster was always extremely gentle to the babies. Emphesis on the word baby.

Until the cockerels started feeling their teenage-ness around 8 weeks old. No injuries, but the little cockerels were running away terrified, so I put them back in the baby pen for now.

So just based on my experience, I wouldn't put them together!

 

[NellaBean]

Well, I ended up splitting the group and putting the girls and the brahmas out into the little pen...and moved the rooster to the big pen by himself. The boys will just stay in the brooder shed for now.

I am considering putting the girls in with the big rooster. He seems pretty interested in them and when I was catching them to put away and they were squawking and screaming, he was running along the fence clucking and making his scary "predator" noise. When I say interested, he is not dancing or courting them, just likes to stay by their fence and clucks at them while he eats.

Would you put a hormonal teenage roo with a bunch of pullet babies? This roo is really hard on my older girls but has so far ignored the younger ones not laying. He is locked up in "solitary" because of his behaviour with the ladies. Actually, ok, I guess I just answered my own question. At least they have company back there! He was lonely before, as the other chickens free range and usually are not in that part of the yard. Now he has 9 girlfriends to chat with (plus 2 boyfriends, but that is beside the point).

 

[The Vail Benton"s]

I have successfully raised cockerels with a bachelor rooster who is about a year old. The cockerels are kept in their own coop and as it happened, I needed a place to put the rooster. Since the cockerels were there first, I think the rooster didn't feel a need to defend the territory. It has worked out very well. We are getting ready to butcher this week and have a new batch of cockerels for the coop. I think I will probably take the rooster out for awhile and let the youngsters get used to their new home before I try introducing the rooster back into the coop.

 

[apc]

I have an Old English Bantam rooster that raises my serema babies. He is mean to the full grown chickens, but he puffs out his wings and lets the babies under to stay warm. He calls to them when he finds food and acts just like a hen would >.>