Question about rehoming roos.

[MoTownChickie]

So I hatched my first eggs about 6 weeks ago, and unfortunately I have a bunch of roos. I'm not allowed roos since I'm within city limits; although somebody a few blocks over has some. But alas, I have a nasty neighbor who wouldn't hesitate to call about my having a roo, although she doesn't see anything wrong with her kid making noise on his guitar and drum set until 1 a.m. *sigh*

Luckily I have a friend that lives on the river and has several acres for the rehomed birds to run around on. However, they do have a colony of peafowl.
1) can I send her a bunch of roos and only a few hens, or should I send her multiple hens per roo? I don't want them to fight and kill one another over the hens. Also I don't want the poor hens to get bald from too much attention.

I guess I could make them aprons if need be.

2) Will they be okay free ranging with the peafowl around? Or will the Peacocks try to kill them?

3) should I have her put up some kind of fencing so they don't go to the river? I don't want them to fall in and drown.

All information will be greatly appreciated!!! I'm new at this and want to do right by my feathered friends.

Kim

 

[PoultryPedia]

There's another thread going right now that might help--
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=204553

 

[scarter]

Can you just send the roos? I wouldn't send over only a few hens. They aren't nice about their multiple daily needs.

 

[MoTownChickie]

Wouldn't just roos kill one another? I thought they would just fight and fight if there were no hens around . . .

That's why I was asking for advice.

 

[columbiacritter]

If you have roos without hens they spar but rarly fight seriously. My boys in their bachelor pad ocasionally draw blood, but never anything serious.

But if you have to few hens the hens will suffer alot and your roos will really fight seriously since they have something to really fight over.

They won't fall in and drown.

 

[gritsar]

Send the roos, no hens. Without hens to fight about, their scuffles should be on the minor side.

 

[greathorse]

Agreed the worst case scnario is to have an inbalance of roosters to hens. Balance is usually around 8-15 hens per roosters. Less than 8 and the hens will likely be pretty much bare backed in a short time. Roosters when all together can get along with some occasional reshuffling of the top guy. Roosters without a job to do are pretty much a pain in the tuckus and I would recommend a duty more inclined toward the culinary arts, but if that is something you can't do they will likely be relagated to a less than perfect life of bacherlorhood.

I think the roosters would quickly learn how to stay out of the path of the peafowl. They will not fall in the river and drown. Not sure what the set up is but sounds like they may have some exposure to predators and that is often just a liffe reality for free ranging free loading roosters.

Good Luck

 

[PoultryPedia]

When I had a batch of 6 or so bachelor cockerels, they were very squabbly. Plus they were frustrated when we stopped free-ranging them with the few hens we had, and cockerels were confined to a coop and run. They got to where they seemed pretty unhappy and we eventually butchered 3 or 4 of them.
It seems different batches of chickens work things out differently.

 

[PoultryPedia]

Here's info I posted in another thread on remedying individual roos' aggressiveness toward chickens.
-----------------------------------
If the "mean-ness" is a rooster problem toward roosters, you can use tape or something to hobble his lower legs together with just enough length that he can walk but not jump up & spur or run really fast. When you put him down, the other chickens sense he is handicapped and generally dive at him (**You MUST stay there to supervise and make sure things don't get TOO rough on him**). Less than a minute of this may get a rooster humbled enough that he never bullies again.
I'm not sure how this would work with correcting aggression toward hens. I imagine you'd be likely to need more than 1 min of hobbling because they'd probably not be as driven to attack him??? I would DEFINITELY separate the other roo while putting the hobbled roo with the hens--otherwise the other roo would take the opportunity to attack him & the hens wouldn't even be part of the interaction.
It can take rooster that was hobbled 2-3 weeks to feel confident enough to hang out comfortably with the others again.
BE CAREFUL WITH THIS TECHNIQUE! Even a little too much time at other chickens' mercy can be very detrimental to thrashee's self-confidence. I think it would be better to do too short of a hobbling session, if in doubt, and then do a second session if needed a couple weeks later.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

If you're going to continue to hatch eggs perhaps you should find other places for the cockerels to go, places where fighting & falling into water won't be an issue, unless it's into a simmering broth.

I think it's nice that people want to find "forever homes" for their unwanted roos, and I wish you the best of luck. I fully understand the attatchment & affection you can feel towards roosters, especially those you raise from chicks. They're handsome and often endearing animals, and I'm fortunate to be able to keep several of them with my laying flock. They all have names & we're very fond of them.

But with a ratio of 1:10 as an ideal for a mixed flock, plus all the other flocks that must be kept with no roos at all, over 90% of all male chicks hatched are superfluous.

Friends with acres of land on which to keep rehomed birds are rare. And even that existence may not be ideal, having many male animals together may not be a satisfying life for them. Their flock is unbalanced, they may fight amongst themselves, could get picked off by predators, and die eventually anyway.

The reason chickens have been kept domestically for thousands of years is because of their dual purpose, the hens to lay eggs & hatch chicks and the roosters for meat, except for a select few to husband their hens. I think that if you hatch chicks or even buy sexed chicks, you should have a Plan B in place for any unwanted roosters you might get. You don't have to process them yourself if you don't want to, but don't dismiss the idea of giving/selling them to someone who would be grateful to do so.

In my opinion, 90% of male chickens have a purpose on a plate.