Hi BYC world! You all provide such wonderful advice. I know there are many similar posts/threads floating around, but it seems that every situation is a bit different. Here is what I have going on, and any advice is appreciated!
In late May we added 5 chicks to our flock. One Silkie, two blue laced red wyandottes, and two brown speckled sussex. We have two cockerels in the mix
, one each of the wyandotte and sussex . Not sure yet about the silkie. They are all about 13 weeks old. They are in a separated off run space, and currently have a large dog crate as a "coop".
In our existing flock we have an Easter Egger rooster, Arnie, 3yo.
We also have 4 adult hens:
One Rhode Island Red (5yr, dominant hen),
One easter egger (4y, grouchy)
One Wellsummer (1.5y)
One Buff Orpington (1.5y)
Poor Lilly, the BO, has been over-mated, and is quite bald. We currently put her in with the young ones so that she can grow back some feathers before winter.
Not the ideal hen to rooster ratio--we lost three hens to illness/predators over the past year. This is one reason we got "pullets" this spring. Now we need to figure out what to do with the three boys we have.
Arnie, the existing roo, is about three years old. He isn't aggressive to humans, and seems to help watch our for the flock when they are free ranging. Overall we feel he is a good rooster, except he overmates poor Lilly, pretty aggressively in the mornings, and she is very naked/bald, despite her wearing hen aprons since last December. For the past couple months I've been picking him up in the mornings, and leaving him outside the run for little bit, giving him time to cool off. When I let him back in with the girls he is much better behaved and the hens have a better experience as well.
Now with two more little guys (occasionally crowing, not too hormonal yet) I wonder what to do. I would love to keep them all, but know with our space and flock size that isn't realistic.The two little guys are still sweet, and I hope will make good roosters too. One is clearly more dominant, but both are still people-friendly. We've been letting all the cockerels/pullets free range with the hens (not with the adult rooster yet) so that they slowly integrate and learn manners to establish order within the flock. Except for morning homone-aggression, Arnie seems to be good as far as roosters go, so I don't want to necessarily replace him.
I was thinking about building a bachelor pad coop for the three of them, until the cockerels get older and present their personalities. Would it be possible to integrate the two young ones in with the 3 yo Easter Egger roo if they are completely separate from the hens? What should I do with the timing of this? If so, how do I judge how they would treat the hens, so I would know who to keep? As this is my first time with multiple roos, I am suddenly facing the problem of likely needing to get rid of some chickens, which honestly breaks my heart.
We have lots of predators around (bears, fox, hawks, eagles, etc, etc, etc, etc) so I generally don't let the chickens free range unless I am out with them. Currently my run is large enough that they stay entertained without needing to free range every day, but I'd need to create a new space for my boys. How much coop/run space would I need for three roosters? How far away from the hens should I keep them? I'm in Montana, and it gets very cold/snowy in the winter, so they spend lots of time inside. I need to factor this into the needed coop size.
Originally we wanted a rooster for both flock protection and to hatch our own chicks. Not sure anymore if I'll want to hatch my own, as I really hate this "extra rooster" problem.
Thank you in advance for your advice!
In late May we added 5 chicks to our flock. One Silkie, two blue laced red wyandottes, and two brown speckled sussex. We have two cockerels in the mix
, one each of the wyandotte and sussex . Not sure yet about the silkie. They are all about 13 weeks old. They are in a separated off run space, and currently have a large dog crate as a "coop".In our existing flock we have an Easter Egger rooster, Arnie, 3yo.
We also have 4 adult hens:
One Rhode Island Red (5yr, dominant hen),
One easter egger (4y, grouchy)
One Wellsummer (1.5y)
One Buff Orpington (1.5y)
Poor Lilly, the BO, has been over-mated, and is quite bald. We currently put her in with the young ones so that she can grow back some feathers before winter.
Not the ideal hen to rooster ratio--we lost three hens to illness/predators over the past year. This is one reason we got "pullets" this spring. Now we need to figure out what to do with the three boys we have.
Arnie, the existing roo, is about three years old. He isn't aggressive to humans, and seems to help watch our for the flock when they are free ranging. Overall we feel he is a good rooster, except he overmates poor Lilly, pretty aggressively in the mornings, and she is very naked/bald, despite her wearing hen aprons since last December. For the past couple months I've been picking him up in the mornings, and leaving him outside the run for little bit, giving him time to cool off. When I let him back in with the girls he is much better behaved and the hens have a better experience as well.
Now with two more little guys (occasionally crowing, not too hormonal yet) I wonder what to do. I would love to keep them all, but know with our space and flock size that isn't realistic.The two little guys are still sweet, and I hope will make good roosters too. One is clearly more dominant, but both are still people-friendly. We've been letting all the cockerels/pullets free range with the hens (not with the adult rooster yet) so that they slowly integrate and learn manners to establish order within the flock. Except for morning homone-aggression, Arnie seems to be good as far as roosters go, so I don't want to necessarily replace him.
I was thinking about building a bachelor pad coop for the three of them, until the cockerels get older and present their personalities. Would it be possible to integrate the two young ones in with the 3 yo Easter Egger roo if they are completely separate from the hens? What should I do with the timing of this? If so, how do I judge how they would treat the hens, so I would know who to keep? As this is my first time with multiple roos, I am suddenly facing the problem of likely needing to get rid of some chickens, which honestly breaks my heart.
We have lots of predators around (bears, fox, hawks, eagles, etc, etc, etc, etc) so I generally don't let the chickens free range unless I am out with them. Currently my run is large enough that they stay entertained without needing to free range every day, but I'd need to create a new space for my boys. How much coop/run space would I need for three roosters? How far away from the hens should I keep them? I'm in Montana, and it gets very cold/snowy in the winter, so they spend lots of time inside. I need to factor this into the needed coop size.
Originally we wanted a rooster for both flock protection and to hatch our own chicks. Not sure anymore if I'll want to hatch my own, as I really hate this "extra rooster" problem.
Thank you in advance for your advice!
