Need some help, other forum directed me here.

[bsee4u]

I have decided to grow some chickens to eat, I have a small incubator that holds 7 eggs so I will have no more than 7 chickens together at one time. I am going to build a temporary coop and run for them outside to house until they get to about 12 weeks (they will go out at about 4-5 weeks of age, depending on the temperature). I plan on building a coop that will be about 32 sq. feet in size for them. My question is respect to the roosters, and here it is. Will the roosters fight amongst themselves to the point of hurting each other if they are in a coop together up to 12 weeks in age? Do you feel Rhode Island Red's will be of eating size at 12 weeks? There should be no more than 7 total in the pen at one time, assume 3 to 4 roosters (if the 50/50 rule holds true) and they have about 4 sq. feet of room for each of the 7. I currently have laying hens so I have no experience with roosters in a pen together. I can't let them free range because their biggest predator would be my German Shepherd. If this is not correct forum, which one should I ask this rooster question in? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[jasonm11]

The roosters will not creat any issues at 12wks. they will get along fine until tehy become sexually mature and you will not ahve tehm that long. I don't think you are going to be happy with the weights at 12wks i would expect 2-3lbs dressed if you are lucky. The size of coop you are proposing will be fine just keep them busy with food and fresh pasture to check out.

 

[HEChicken]

I'm not allowed to have roosters in the city, but a couple of times have got a straight run of chicks with the intention of eating the boys. I usually wait until they crow to process them to allow them to grow as big as possible. Most times I've processed around 16-17 weeks and even those birds have never been that big. I have one in the oven right now. I didn't weigh him but I'd be stunned if he's more than 4lb. Probably closer to 3.5lb.

ETA: But I've never had any issues with the boys not getting along - even when I had four at the same time.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The coop should be big enough but I'd add a run to go with it. I realize you are not going to keep them until they really mature, but you may find them a bit crowded in there. I don't think you need to go with the normal recommendation on this forum because your plan is a little different, but you should be able to add a 4' x 12' run or preferably larger fairly inexpensively.

I agree you will be disappointed with the size of a dual purpose rooster at 12 weeks. I never process mine before 15 weeks and those are not real big. I free range mine so I don't necessarily buy all their food, so letting them age is not a big deal for me. I think in your case the weight gain after 18 weeks is not real cost efficient so you might plan on processing between 15 to 18 weeks. They are still not going to be huge, but I think you'll be satisfied with what you get.

Now, your basic question. Will they fight? Yes, probably, some. They will start sorting out the dominance thing when they reach puberty. That could be as early as 12 weeks and probably will be by 15 weeks. They will do peckingn order earlier. If they are raised together it probably won't be too violent, but there is always the possibility some will fight to the death. This is another reason for some extra room. If they have some extra room they can run away instead of being cornered and have to fight. What would worry me more, and I don't worry about it much, is that one gets injured and bloody and the others turn into cannibals. You will probably be OK but there is always the possibility something could go wrong. Even with a flock of pure hens, there is the possibility that one could get injured in a pecking order fight. You'll probably see more fighting with roosters than you saw with your laying flock maturing, but not necessarily a whole lot more. But then you might. It purely depends on the personality of the individuals.

If it helps any, I have hatched and raised chickens with the flock, as many as 8 roosters in one brood, and have seldom seen much serious fighting. I have never had one get seriously injured. Mine free range so they have plenty of room (there is that extra room thing again) so they do have room to run away when they a start losing a fight.

Good luck. Sounds like a decent plan.

 

[bsee4u]

Thanks a million for the great advice!!!

It sounds like I need to wait a little longer on my next hatch to go to about 15 weeks with the current outside hatch. I have a combination on inside brooders that I use until they get too big. I only plan to hatch and eat from Spring to Fall, keeping my girls during the Winter is enough work for me, getting out every morning and evening to take care of them is all I want in wintertime. Thanks again, I feel much better after hearing your advice.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

for your plan I would recommend barred rocks or white rocks instead of the RIR. X2 on the other advise

Good luck!

 

[bsee4u]

One of my egg laying girls is a barred rock, she is a very sweet, docile BIG girl. So I agree, but if you spend time on the hatching forum and the price and casualties of mailed eggs, you will understand. I can get the RIR eggs to hatch about 5 miles from me for $2.00 a dozen, I have one other source but they are all mutt eggs.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

then I would get a local BIG barred rock roo, leave him with your big girl for a week & hatch your own!

 

[AlabamaChickenLady]

Now this is something I know about. I currently have 24 chickens and 8 of them are roosters. They are all in the same coop and run together. They are only about 15 weeks old now and they are a little on the small side(maybe 3-4 pounds dressed out), so I'm going to wait a couple more weeks before we process them. I'm going to process all the roosters except 2. I'm going to keep them just so we can hatch out our own. I have it narrowed down. One is a bitter, so he's on the list to go.

I have Buff Orphington and Barred Rock males. They all hatched together and grew up together and they don't fight that much. None of them have ever been hurt. They usually run away and hide. They do flare up at eachother, but that's about as far as it goes. If you were closer, I'd let you have one of my Barred Rock roosters to breed your own. Or you could check out Tractor Supply (or your local feed store) for their chick days at the first of the month to get some there.

Good luck.

 

[bsee4u]

My problem with having a rooster is that the deed restrictions specifically prohibit poultry, however I called the county and they said they have no restrictions that it was local "subdivision" restriction. There are 4 houses in my "subdivision", I am on 4.5 acres, and the other houses have 2.5 to 4 acres. I have had no issues with my hens, I am far enough away I don't think the neighbors know I have them, but there have been no complaints. One neighbor 2 doors down has more hens than I, but he also doesn't want to push the limit with the noise a roo will make, so we just keep the girls. I may go back to another source that gave me my first hatching eggs, a mixture, the lady couldn't tell me what kind of chickens she has

but they will be 4 weeks old this weekend and they are much bigger than my barred and partridge rock hens that I bought at a few days old, at the same age. I'll just have to see, but I was mostly worried about the "boys" hurting each other and then I am going to have to make sure they get processed BEFORE they start making a lot of noise.