Questions about 2 roosters

[llombardo]

Today they finally went outside. I brought out 1 boy and 1 girl at a time. The silver laced rooster started challenging the leghorn rooster pretty much after he came out of the carrier. Direct eye contact and puffing up. I gave the silver laced a tap a couple timesand told him no, which worked but I'm not going to be here 24/7 to yell at him. They didn't have any problems until they went outside. Is the pecking order starting over again because it's new territory? The leghorn s the crower right now and up until they went outside everyone seemed to follow him. He is definitely more skiddish then the silver laced. Should I rehome them or will they work this out in the new area? The leghorn when corned will go eye to eye but tries getting away from the silver laced. They have been outside for about 2 hours now.

 

[keesmom]

How old are these birds? How many do you have and what are the dimensions of the coop and run?

 

[llombardo]

12 weeks. 4 are in there now--I bought 4 girls but ended up with 2 boys. The run is is 12 by 15. The coop itself 6 ft x 3 plus the area where they sleep up top. I have 4 more girls that are about 5-6 weeks, not out there yet.

 

[SueT]

There will be less stress if you re-home one of the boys. I just sold my extra cockerel, this group is 4+ months old. I have 9 girls altogether, which is a good ratio, 1 rooster to 9 hens. Having 2 for 6 isn't a good idea, 1 to 6 is about the minimum. And the males mature faster than the pullets, so there will be a lot of chaos for sure if you try to keep both in with them.

 

[KikiLeigh02]

I would think about re-homing or removing at least one, and really soon. A 6 pullet-2 cockerel ratio is not ideal. Some people do it, but I think it's too stressful for the hens and you have to worry about them injuring/killing each other sparring. You also have to worry about them injuring the hens by over mating. If I had to guess I would say it has more to do with their hormones starting to kick in at 12 weeks than the move itself.