Raising Cockerels

[kaboyer23]

I'm a beginner and just picked up my 17 female chicks (10 Australorps & 7 Barred Plymouth Rock). I'd like to get a roo but had a few questions before purchasing.
1. Would 2 cockerels be too many? (Ideally I'd like to get one male of each breed I already have)
2. If I do get 2 cockerels, can I keep the whole flock together or will I need to separate the roos once they're older? (I figured I wouldn't need to separate since they'll be growing up together - with the whole flock growing up together)

Any advise would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[DobieLover]

I'm a beginner and just picked up my 17 female chicks (10 Australorps & 7 Barred Plymouth Rock). I'd like to get a roo but had a few questions before purchasing.
1. Would 2 cockerels be too many? (Ideally I'd like to get one male of each breed I already have)
2. If I do get 2 cockerels, can I keep the whole flock together or will I need to separate the roos once they're older? (I figured I wouldn't need to separate since they'll be growing up together - with the whole flock growing up together)

Any advise would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Hello and welcome to BYC.

You can raise 2 cockerels with those pullets. If you are going to have one big happy flock, it won't matter if you have two cockerels one of each breed or two PBRs or 2 Australorps. You will have some pure and some mixed chicks if they are all together.
One of the cockerels will be dominant.
When the hormones start to surge, you will likely have to separate those boys from the girls for a while as they tend to be forceful with the pullets who are not ready for their amorous attentions. It will cause undue stress to the girls.

 

[llombardo]

I would wait to see if any boys are in the mix you got already.

I raised two together--the challenging followed by seperation started at about 4 months.

 

[aart]

I'm a beginner and just picked up my 17 female chicks (10 Australorps & 7 Barred Plymouth Rock). I'd like to get a roo but had a few questions before purchasing.
1. Would 2 cockerels be too many? (Ideally I'd like to get one male of each breed I already have)
2. If I do get 2 cockerels, can I keep the whole flock together or will I need to separate the roos once they're older? (I figured I wouldn't need to separate since they'll be growing up together - with the whole flock growing up together)

Any advise would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

I would recommended not getting males your first year,
learn how to keep females before adding a male to the mix as it's a whole other learning curve.
Buuuuuut, it might depend on your goals, the housing you have available,
and how savvy and adaptable you can be.

Welcome to BYC!
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

 

[kaboyer23]

Hello and welcome to BYC.

You can raise 2 cockerels with those pullets. If you are going to have one big happy flock, it won't matter if you have two cockerels one of each breed or two PBRs or 2 Australorps. You will have some pure and some mixed chicks if they are all together.
One of the cockerels will be dominant.
When the hormones start to surge, you will likely have to separate those boys from the girls for a while as they tend to be forceful with the pullets who are not ready for their amorous attentions. It will cause undue stress to the girls.

Thank you for the info!

 

[kaboyer23]

thanks everyone for the info and advice!

And thanks Aart, I'll get that all updated. I just signed up yesterday and am still trying to find my way around the website. Thanks again!

 

[Redhead Rae]

I wouldn't recommend getting young cockerels until you have older hens with an established pecking order to school them while they grow up. I found I have a greater percentage of jerky roosters when I raised them without an established flock. I believe this is similar to the problems that elephant sanctuaries have with the bulls when they have no older cows or bulls to whack some sense into the youngsters. They are a ball of feathers and hormones and there are no outside influences to correct their behavior. I would also recommend getting more than 2 cockerels at once with the plan that you will rehome or eat the meanies or extras and only keep your best behaved 1 or 2. You can't depend on getting a gem of a rooster or seeing differences in behavior if you only have 1 or 2.

I wrote an article about selecting good flock roosters that will probably be good for you to read before you get cockerel chicks.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/selecting-good-flock-roosters.74719/