Oops, Two Roosters- need advice

[Folly's place]

Your cockerels are starting to mature, but are at that 'idiot adolescent' phase right now. Your hens (and they are all over one year of age?) are not impressed.
Since these are your first cockerels, it's possible to miss early evidence of human aggressive behaviors, a separate but very important issue. Sometimes it seems to me that new owners don't see any problem until the bird actually attacks and causes an injury. Hope that's not going to be your experience!
How many hens do you have? If the dominant cockerel is causing injuries, or really being obnoxious to the hens, eliminate him, and see how the other bird develops. You might have a nice bird there, or another looser, and it just can take time to decide.
Mary

 

[Anime2lover]

I went through three roos myself before I found the too that was right for us.

 

[new_chick_mama]

Hello, when one of my hens became broody, my kids convinced me to get three chicks to make her happy. I ended up with a straight run and two grew up to be roosters. They’re about seven months old now and crow back and forth nonstop. They get along with each other as brothers and rarely wrestle, but one is obviously dominant. With two acres, they choose to spend all their time a few feet apart, trying to outcrow the other. This has become upsetting to my husband. The alpha rooster has also now begun jumping on my hens, which the ladies do not appreciate. The hens get very upset and fight with him. When this happens, the two roosters then gang up and attack the hen. I am thinking about getting rid of one of the roosters or both. My hope is that with one rooster, he will stop trying to show off to the other and become nicer to the hens. What do you think? Should I get rid of both or just one? If I keep one, will the dominant rooster make a better rooster to keep for my flock or the other one? Thank you!

What is you rooster to hen ratio?

 

[NatJ]

Should I get rid of both or just one?

If you get rid of both, you will have a lot more peace! (No crowing, no mating attempts, no bothering hens.) If you were happy when you had no rooster, this is probably the best choice.

Or you could get rid of one now, and decide about the second one after you see how things go. If you try that, I don't know which would be better to get rid of first.

The alpha rooster has also now begun jumping on my hens, which the ladies do not appreciate. The hens get very upset and fight with him. When this happens, the two roosters then gang up and attack the hen.

--If the second rooster was not there, the hen might win the fight, and the dominant rooster might learn good manners.

--If the second rooster was not there, the dominant one might still pick on the hens, even without his buddy backing him up, so you would still have a problem.

--The second rooster might be nice and polite if you get rid of the dominant one.

--If you get rid of the dominant one, the second rooster might decide it's his turn to be a bully toward the hens.

It's really hard to predict what a chicken might do!

 

[Folly's place]

x2!

 

[MizzHen]

Just because they don't harass hens now doesn't mean they won't when the dominant male is gone. I'd get rid of both and try again next time

What is you rooster to hen ratio?

I have 6 hens and two young roosters. I am thinking at least one rooster will need to go to even out the flock.

 

[MizzHen]

Just because they don't harass hens now doesn't mean they won't when the dominant male is gone. I'd get rid of both and try again next time

Why do you want any boys? What are your goals in regard to roosters? The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Everything else is personal preference. Nothing wrong with personal preference, I have a few of those myself. Those can be strong motivators.

My suggestion is to keep as few boys as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems with more roosters but that problems are more likely. You need to decide if 0, 1 or 2 is the right number for you.

I raise cockerels with my flock every year. Until the immature cockerels reach a certain maturity level most mature hens want nothing to do with them. They want the potential father of their chicks to be worthy, not some immature brat with just one thing on their mind. Sometimes they may beat the snot out of that brat, sometimes they run away. The boys often have hormones running out of control and they are often bigger than the hens so they use force. Once the cockerel matures into a rooster he usually gains control of those hormones and the girls are more likely to accept him. But as someone once said on here, watching a cockerel go through puberty is often not for the faint of heart. Even when they mature, multiple roosters does not always work.

When you have two or more cockerels the competition between them can make them misbehave even worse. When you have two or more they will decide which one is dominant. The dominant one suppresses the behaviors of the other boys. It is really hard to determine how they will treat the girls when they grow up. As JacinLarkwell said, if you remove the dominant one the other's behaviors can dramatically change.

I don't know what the right answer for you is. If you don't have a strong desire for one I'd think 0 is a good number. I want fertile eggs so I need one. I tend to select the more dominant one. I find that they usually are more capable of winning over the hens by the force of their personality once they mature than one that is less dominant. The less dominant may need to rely more on force to achieve and maintain the top position. That's not a sure fire thing though. It is very possible either will have plenty of personality to take over once they mature. Or both may be weak characters that have to rely on force instead of charisma. Choosing which one is not always easy.

Thank you so much! This has all been very helpful and good information. I’ve been raising hens for four years. This is my first go with the boys.

 

[Mrs. K]

My husband out votes any rooster. He is a keeper. I would let those boys go.

Mrs K