My flocks! Give me some advices.

[Bendeson]

 

[BoundlessLove]

Hi there. Welcome to BYC!
Are you planning on keeping any of those cockerels?

 

[Bendeson]

Hi there. Welcome to BYC!
Are you planning on keeping any of those cockerels?

Thank you. Yeah, I like them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My flocks! Give me some advices.​

Determine what your goals are and solve for peace in the flock.

 

[Mrs. K]

Know that chicken decisions are not one and done. With time the flock changes, what was working, no longer works, and the flock needs to be adjusted by either or both removing or/and adding birds.

Always solve for peace in the flock. Generally that means you can’t keep all or even most of your roosters.

Mrs K

 

[Mother of Chaos]

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Lovely birds, but advice about what?

And it will help if you share your goals (egg production, breeding, etc.), ages and sexes of your birds, and sizes of coop(s) and run(s.) Do you also free range? - around the clock, 3 hours a day, supervised, on their own, etc.

 

[Bendeson]

Lovely birds, but advice about what?

And it will help if you share your goals (egg production, breeding, etc.), ages and sexes of your birds, and sizes of coop(s) and run(s.) Do you also free range? - around the clock, 3 hours a day, supervised, on their own, etc.

Problem is there are too many cockerels. What would you do to keep the balance between cockerels and pullets? do not hold too much experinces on that.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Problem is there are too many cockerels. What would you do to keep the balance between cockerels and pullets? do not hold too much experinces on that.

One option, if you have room and resources to build a new coop/run, is to make a “bachelor flock.” Keep all the cockerels/ roosters together.

Otherwise you’ll have to remove them. That means either trying to find someone else who wants them, or “freezer camp.” Rehoming is tough this time of year because so many people bought eggs and baby chicks that are now maturing.

How many pullets/ hens do you have? If you want to keep a rooster for breeding, etc., a very rough rule of thumb is one male to ~10 females. Do the girls show any signs of overmating? Are the boys fighting (serious fighting involving blood) over the girls?

 

[Mrs. K]

Do know, that not all bachelor pads work over the long time. Some do, some don't. That is how cockerels and roosters are. Today's behavior is no indication what tomorrow's behavior will be. Being raised together has little to no influence on future behavior.

Mrs K