Raising a Rooster

[PolloGal]

Hi! Just need some advice. We are building a large pen area with a big enough, separate section for our rooster…possibly even 2 or 3 roosters. But, right now I have an 11 week old rooster that I put in a day pen during the day (about 4’ x 4’ area) and in our larger brooder at night. I won’t be able to use the brooder for him much longer to roost because he will start crowing…likely soon?? Can I put him in a 22” x 18” x 17” tall wood box that has hardware cloth on one side? I was thinking I could just put a cloth cover over it, put a roost bar and chips inside, and place it inside our electric fenced area. Would that be safe and comfortable for him? Thanks.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

I'm a bit confused, trying to understand your situation. Do you have other chickens as well? Why do you need to separate him? What do you intend to keep him for, eventually (breeder? crockpot? entertainment? show?)?

The box seems very, very small - even just for a lone chicken to roost at night (suitable for an injured bird that needs to be kept immobile for a short time, but for a healthy cockerel? hmmm... no). He'd be better off just turned loose in the garage or a shed, I think.

Will your electric fenced area keep predators like fox, raccoons and opossums out? It might keep coyotes and dogs away, but smaller predators may get in and while persistently trying to get at him inside the box, he'll be terrorized and die from a heart attack anyway. The box might be fine in your garage or shed for a few nights, but not outdoors where it's exposed to predators.

How long until your larger pen is ready? Do you have a proper coop?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have an 11 week old rooster that I put in a day pen during the day (about 4’ x 4’ area) and in our larger brooder at night. I won’t be able to use the brooder for him much longer to roost because he will start crowing…likely soon??

So you are concerned about him crowing at night while in the brooder, wherever that brooder is. I assume the brooder is in your house somewhere and the crowing would bother you sleeping. At 11 weeks he may start crowing later today, it may be a few months. You never know when a cockerel will start crowing so you do need a plan. If it is dark he is less likely to crow but it's still possible.

Can I put him in a 22” x 18” x 17” tall wood box that has hardware cloth on one side? I was thinking I could just put a cloth cover over it, put a roost bar and chips inside, and place it inside our electric fenced area. Would that be safe and comfortable for him?

So you would move him from the day area to the box at night. That box is too small for him to live in but if it is dark he will just sleep. You don't need food and water in it as long as you move him out before it gets very light. This time of year in Tennessee it's unlikely that box will become an oven if you are slow letting him out and at 11 weeks he can handle any cold you might see. As far as his comfort goes he should be OK as long as you don't put him in there real early or leave him in there very long after he wakes up.
As for safety. How sturdy is that box? If your electric fence is set up right it should stop and ground-based predator like a dog, bobcat, bear, or coyote. The only threat should be from flying predators. Can the box stop those? I don't know how well your electric fence is set up, I can't tell from across the internet how good a job you did on that.

In theory it should work.

 

[nuthatched]

Do you have other chickens? Why does your boy need seperated? 11 weeks is pretty old to be in a brooder but I don't know if your box is a good idea.
Remember, the minimum space reqired is 4 sq feet per bird in the coop and 8sq feet per bird in the run.

 

[PolloGal]

I'm a bit confused, trying to understand your situation. Do you have other chickens as well? Why do you need to separate him? What do you intend to keep him for, eventually (breeder? crockpot? entertainment? show?)?

The box seems very, very small - even just for a lone chicken to roost at night (suitable for an injured bird that needs to be kept immobile for a short time, but for a healthy cockerel? hmmm... no). He'd be better off just turned loose in the garage or a shed, I think.

Will your electric fenced area keep predators like fox, raccoons and opossums out? It might keep coyotes and dogs away, but smaller predators may get in and while persistently trying to get at him inside the box, he'll be terrorized and die from a heart attack anyway. The box might be fine in your garage or shed for a few nights, but not outdoors where it's exposed to predators.

How long until your larger pen is ready? Do you have a proper coop?

Yes…I have other chickens-hens. He is our first rooster and I want to keep him…for breeding but also because I ‘love’ him. Lol. I wish I had a garage or shed…I wouldn’t even need to ask about a box if I did. I am just trying to see how big a roost he will need to be comfortable only at night. During the day he will be in a different pen. My electric fence area is all around my chicken pen…TOTALLY safe…we have bears and nothing has reached them in over 2 years. We have wire attached to an inside pen at the bottom so nothing can dig into the pen…even if the fence went dead because of power outage or something. Our pen is very safe…I can barely get in! Lol
The larger pen will be ready in about 4 or 5 weeks. So a roost for him right now is temporary. He will have a very large area then and be with others.

 

[PolloGal]

Do you have other chickens? Why does your boy need seperated? 11 weeks is pretty old to be in a brooder but I don't know if your box is a good idea.
Remember, the minimum space reqired is 4 sq feet per bird in the coop and 8sq feet per bird in the run.

Yes…I have hens. I was concerned about putting him with the hens because of the pen size. It is plenty large for 8 hens, but we just keep 6 so they have a ‘fortress’. I just need to know how big a temporary roost for him should be so he is comfortable until he moves into the larger area.

 

[nuthatched]

Yes…I have other chickens-hens. He is our first rooster and I want to keep him…for breeding but also because I ‘love’ him. Lol. I wish I had a garage or shed…I wouldn’t even need to ask about a box if I did. I am just trying to see how big a roost he will need to be comfortable only at night. During the day he will be in a different pen. My electric fence area is all around my chicken pen…TOTALLY safe…we have bears and nothing has reached them in over 2 years. We have wire attached to an inside pen at the bottom so nothing can dig into the pen…even if the fence went dead because of power outage or something. Our pen is very safe…I can barely get in! Lol
The larger pen will be ready in about 4 or 5 weeks. So a roost for him right now is temporary. He will have a very large area then and be with others.

He can go in with the rest, with the see, no touch method, if that's what you're doing. It's better to have him raised by older hens so he learns manners from them.

 

[PolloGal]

So you are concerned about him crowing at night while in the brooder, wherever that brooder is. I assume the brooder is in your house somewhere and the crowing would bother you sleeping. At 11 weeks he may start crowing later today, it may be a few months. You never know when a cockerel will start crowing so you do need a plan. If it is dark he is less likely to crow but it's still possible.


So you would move him from the day area to the box at night. That box is too small for him to live in but if it is dark he will just sleep. You don't need food and water in it as long as you move him out before it gets very light. This time of year in Tennessee it's unlikely that box will become an oven if you are slow letting him out and at 11 weeks he can handle any cold you might see. As far as his comfort goes he should be OK as long as you don't put him in there real early or leave him in there very long after he wakes up.
As for safety. How sturdy is that box? If your electric fence is set up right it should stop and ground-based predator like a dog, bobcat, bear, or coyote. The only threat should be from flying predators. Can the box stop those? I don't know how well your electric fence is set up, I can't tell from across the internet how good a job you did on that.

In theory it should work.

Yes! Thank you for your reply. The brooder is large and in my home. Mostly, I want him to get acclimated to roosting in outside temps. The box is just to roost at night…I go out to the pen to close up my girls and open them up in the morning….as I would do for him. I can build a bigger box if needed, but I happen to have this one and it is new and sturdy. It would be placed inside my girls pen…which is build with hardware cloth, a steel roof and wire attached at the bottom to prevent digging predators…and this all inside the electric fencing. We have bears and were very careful to get it right. Do I need a bigger roost area for him to sleep only at night?

 

[PolloGal]

He can go in with the rest, with the see, no touch method, if that's what you're doing. It's better to have him raised by older hens so he learns manners from them.

I‘m not sure I understand. Do you mean I should introduce him to the older hens over time/slowly…and let him roost with them? I was concerned my pen would be too small. It’s a 10 x 20 with 6 hens. But, i would still need a place for him to roost separately until they are acclimated to each other, right?

 

[nuthatched]

I‘m not sure I understand. Do you mean I should introduce him to the older hens over time/slowly…and let him roost with them? I was concerned my pen would be too small. It’s a 10 x 20 with 6 hens. But, i would still need a place for him to roost separately until they are acclimated to each other, right?

I should explain, I'm sorry.
What you're doing is the see but no touch method, they can see him but not get at him. A 200 sq foot run is 33 sq feet per bird, not including him, that's plenty of room. He will likely have to roost separately for a while since they won't accept him right off. Is try to introduce a single bird but let me look in articles for information.