Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[mymilliefleur]

ACK!!
Okay, so this morning I moved leghorns inside and turkens back outside. i checked on them at least once an hour cause I was doing laundry and it is outside. No problems for 6 hours. I leave for grocery store for 2 hours and came home to find the smaller one with a bloody nub for a tail. Which means it isn't just the leghorns and I do not know what to do. I haven't taken down my brooder and I had called a wire dog crate into service for the leghorns so I can isolate her for healing. But I am beginning to wonder if it is possible to have just two turkens in a mixed flock. What do you all think? Should I rehome my pretties? I think they may be a roo and hen though not sure of course at this age (5 weeks). I ended up getting Pick No More the other day so I have put some on her poor rear end.

Sorry to hear that! I have 1 NN hen in a flock of about 60. She gets along just fine. Do they have enough space, protein Etc,? Hope you get this resolved and don't have to rehome any of them.

 

[draye]

Very VERY helpful. So, would it be reasonable to have one flock rooster and then keep two (or three) in a bachelor pad together (away from flock), so I don't have only one rooster that a hawk to take out and leave me without any roosters? (Of course, these have all been raised together... and I would have to watch carefully.) Or should each boy have his own place to live form the start until breeding time? And if I want to breed with a different rooster, is it ok to swap him out in the coop with the flock rooster (who would get a vacation on his own)? (Rather than relocating the girls?) (I would also maybe try smaller numbers of hens in with a rooster in a breeding pen for specific goals, I'm just wondering about options). I have a little time on this, but this helps me know the choices I'm going to have to make - it's so hard, I have such nice pretty cockerels!

Sorry for all the questions. I know I will learn from experience, but I really don't want to learn about something that makes my birds really unhappy (or gets them injured) if I can avoid it by following advice from experienced folks...

- Ant Farm

Okay, I'll weigh in now.
Tried not too because there were so many good replies.

Free ranging flocks are great for running mite than 1 rooster. I however have too many predators that I never let mine free range. Unless one escapes, them I run them down and catch them.

Now to answer. I have my runs set up to where they can get sunshine and shade. I place a rooster in each run and add up to " now I have 8 " hens, usually no more than 7.
This way I usually have fairly good fertility.

My "most" runs are approximately 10 x 10. There are a couple that are a tad bit smaller. One of them I put usually no more than 3 hens with the rooster, it was an afterthought that I put in. It has a tree in it that I was trying to avoid when setting up the runs. But I needed the space so I put it in. They also have a lean to type built on to the run so they can have a dry place when it rains.

I have a coop built up ( kind of like a rabbit hutch ) off the ground that I'm going to put dividers in and keep an extra rooster or two. This way if I need it or want to change the breedings up then I can.

I feel an extra or three Roos are a good thing if you have a place to put them. As far as running them in a bachelors pad together, no. I've seen a single rooster dominate the other(s) so bad that the others are no good for breeding, they won't even hardly look at a hen when they are out together. Though I have seen them abounded back after a time with the hens. On the other hand sometimes the hens know about all his and continue the defraying of the rooster. Chickens can be bullies!

 

[Phill98]

My breeding pens have 6 to 8 hens to 1 rooster, I also made sure the girls have enough room to get away should they not want attention from the rooster. There are also bushes planted for them to hide under.
I also had 2 cockerels hatched together, brooded together (under a broody hen), grew up together, but once the hormones kicked in all that brotherly love flew out the window. I found a good home for one and kept the other.

I think that is the best way of keeping chickens

 

[Phill98]

Very VERY helpful. So, would it be reasonable to have one flock rooster and then keep two (or three) in a bachelor pad together (away from flock), so I don't have only one rooster that a hawk to take out and leave me without any roosters? (Of course, these have all been raised together... and I would have to watch carefully.) Or should each boy have his own place to live form the start until breeding time? And if I want to breed with a different rooster, is it ok to swap him out in the coop with the flock rooster (who would get a vacation on his own)? (Rather than relocating the girls?) (I would also maybe try smaller numbers of hens in with a rooster in a breeding pen for specific goals, I'm just wondering about options). I have a little time on this, but this helps me know the choices I'm going to have to make - it's so hard, I have such nice pretty cockerels!

Sorry for all the questions. I know I will learn from experience, but I really don't want to learn about something that makes my birds really unhappy (or gets them injured) if I can avoid it by following advice from experienced folks...

- Ant Farm

Glad I helped. I thought you might be mad at me for whatever reason.

Anyway, even I haven't kept roosters without hens, I think that keeping more of them in one pen is doable. I think that they would establish the pecking order and everything would do great. ( that is my opinion, I don't have experience with this).

I also haven't done the changing roosters "apartment" but I guess I can say what I think.
My guess is that there won't be any problems in pen with hens, but I don't know what would happen in roo pen. But I can say I saw some people doing this with no problems at all.
Someone who is breeding for show also sometimes has more roosters and I realy don't think that every roo has it's own pen ( except for game birds, but that's another story)
Hope I helped.

 

[DesertChic]

Very VERY helpful. So, would it be reasonable to have one flock rooster and then keep two (or three) in a bachelor pad together (away from flock), so I don't have only one rooster that a hawk to take out and leave me without any roosters? (Of course, these have all been raised together... and I would have to watch carefully.) Or should each boy have his own place to live form the start until breeding time? And if I want to breed with a different rooster, is it ok to swap him out in the coop with the flock rooster (who would get a vacation on his own)? (Rather than relocating the girls?) (I would also maybe try smaller numbers of hens in with a rooster in a breeding pen for specific goals, I'm just wondering about options). I have a little time on this, but this helps me know the choices I'm going to have to make - it's so hard, I have such nice pretty cockerels!

Sorry for all the questions. I know I will learn from experience, but I really don't want to learn about something that makes my birds really unhappy (or gets them injured) if I can avoid it by following advice from experienced folks...

- Ant Farm

I've had a much different experience with my roosters than the others. I've actually got quite a few cockerels/roosters, and although they're a pain in the butt during their "teenage" weeks, once mature my boys work together pretty well and generally don't prove too pesky with the females. I think breed, personality, lots of room, and separate pens their individual flocks can return to make a huge difference....but that's just my personal experience.

That said, I've currently got two and possibly three young teenage cockerels on the cull list right now because they just won't leave my girls alone. I've had time to figure out which ones I want to keep for breeding and which don't make the cut, so I'll be trimming down the population very soon.

Edit: I just wanted to add that one of the reasons I keep "extra" cockerels/rooster is because they do have a large area in which to free-range and having more roosters helps to protect the flock from predators. I have a lot of coyotes, bob cats, mountain lions, and hawks around here and even though my acreage is fenced, those roosters all work together quite beautifully to protect their flocks and sound the alarm so I can come out with the shotgun to take out the predator. As long as all of my boys get along, I let them do their thing. Once it's time to start my breeding program I will have select hens with their select cockerels in enclosed pens.

 

[ochochicas]

My NN rooster was so big that he hurt the girls no matter how many hens I had. He was my only adult rooster, and he had about 12 or 15 hens (maybe more...I lost count) all to himself. They were all missing the feathers from their backs as well as some from their heads. He didn't mean to rough them up, he was just to big for his own good.

His babies (all pullets) are 6 months old now and are over 6 pounds. Not too shabby!

 

[Phill98]

I've had a much different experience with my roosters than the others. I've actually got quite a few cockerels/roosters, and although they're a pain in the butt during their "teenage" weeks, once mature my boys work together pretty well and generally don't prove too pesky with the females. I think breed, personality, lots of room, and separate pens their individual flocks can return to make a huge difference....but that's just my personal experience.

That said, I've currently got two and possibly three young teenage cockerels on the cull list right now because they just won't leave my girls alone. I've had time to figure out which ones I want to keep for breeding and which don't make the cut, so I'll be trimming down the population very soon.

Edit: I just wanted to add that one of the reasons I keep "extra" cockerels/rooster is because they do have a large area in which to free-range and having more roosters helps to protect the flock from predators. I have a lot of coyotes, bob cats, mountain lions, and hawks around here and even though my acreage is fenced, those roosters all work together quite beautifully to protect their flocks and sound the alarm so I can come out with the shotgun to take out the predator. As long as all of my boys get along, I let them do their thing. Once it's time to start my breeding program I will have select hens with their select cockerels in enclosed pens. 

If I got it right, your roosters only free-range together, but sleep separately with their own hens. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Again, if I got it right, I think that her first question was about keeping few roosters with the same flock of seven hens- I had a case with two roosters with 11 hens in the same space whole day.

I also had two flocks that were only free ranging together and it was functioning just right, like your flocks.

EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I was not trying to insult you in any way, I was just trying to justify my answer. Hope youwon't feel offended. I find online texting and writing very difficult especially in other language

 

[HTChick]

Sorry to hear that! I have 1 NN hen in a flock of about 60. She gets along just fine. Do they have enough space, protein Etc,? Hope you get this resolved and don't have to rehome any of them.

Thanks! Okay, everyone keeps saying enough protein......and I was thinking I knew what thta meant so I am going to ask because maybe I do not. I am feeding chick starter. Any treats I give them are meal worms, mashed boiled eggs, or safflower seeds so far. Would this mean to give them more of the mashed eggs, etc? Or is whatI am doing covering that? Now it seems to be a problem beyond the NN, I am making changes to their environment. They do have a warm space that they can all get in, I am putting up wind blocks. There is 100 sq ft for 32 going on 6 week old chicks. I plan to cull roosters (25 were straight run so I am likely to have at least 10-12) so the eventual number will be more like 15 to 20.

And the coop will be off the ground so they will retain the 100 square ft.

 

[Kev]

His babies (all pullets) are 6 months old now and are over 6 pounds. Not too shabby!

Nice weights!

 

[Kev]

The truth is.... ALL responses as to roosters are correct.

It's because none of them are same.

Some roosters can tolerate other roosters, from extremely well(buddies for life) to not buddies but as long as the pecking order is stable... all the way to can tolerate, but do get annoying with interrupting matings etc...

Also, some can tolerate only to end up intolerant. Some are best buds, then get in a quarrelsome phase... then it all calms down again.

Some rooster just plain cannot tolerate any other rooster, no matter what the situation.

It is due to a combination of genetics and environment. Example, clutch-raiseds that tolerate each other very well but are intolerant of/aggressive to any non-clutchmates. If you had two roosters from this kind of "line" but raised them seperately, it would be too easy to think this line throws roosters that are very intolerant of other roosters... missing out on the clutch-mate compatible possibility.

Even so, the same 'line' can still throw roosters with varying degrees of tolerance. Out of a clutch of 5, you could get one that simply has to kill every other rooster including his 'brothers', one that does not really want to kill but would much prefer to be the only one/tries to keep all others away from his girls, two that might be best buds and get on well and maybe the fifth is pretty mellow.

It is possible to make reasonable guesses if you are familiar with a line. I have some lines I never worry about, just raise them all together in the same pen for years, no matter the number of boys.. they do settle a rank between them, obvious only at feeding time- the dominant one will tell the other boys to get out of his way with a single peck and the others immediately retreat.

The other quirk is it can be possible for otherwise very mellow rooster to have an intense dislike for a specific rooster. He has no aggression problems with ANY other rooster placed with him.. but that one,, oh that one just has to push up daisies. He presses all his buttons, whatever they are.

As for number of hens per rooster, again this wildly varies. Some roosters do need many hens for the hen's sake. Some roosters will just target one or two hens to the point of making them bare and the 11 other hens can be in perfect feather.

On the other end of spectrum, some roosters can have just one hen and not a single feather will be ruffled on her.

This is why there's almost always disagreements whenever the rooster topic comes up. Some will swear by "this" because of their experience(which was true) and another can tell a different story(which also is true). I've seen had all sorts of roosters so all of you are right, just not in it being a universally true statement is all.