Raising Roosters together?

[COCKmasters999]

We have done the multi- rooster flock before and it works itself out pretty quick. Most of ours were raised together, all kinds of breeds, and the pecking order was established very early on while the chicks were still too small for the outside world. We did have a game fowl roo that destroyed everyone in his path but the the order in the yard among the birds was always crystal clear.

 

[Mother Therese]

Have you kept hens with your roosters without experiencing problems?

 

[penella22]

Following this thread with in interest, as I got 8 "laying hens" from Meyer Hatchery on May 29th, and I am now noticing that 3 out of the 8 are bigger, have thicker legs, seem generally braver, and have small combs, whereas the other 5 do not. However, I'm not positive they are roosters--they're only 10 days old now, and my understanding is you can't tell until they're older? Out of the 8, it's the 2 Welsummers and the Blue Orpington that I think may be roosters, and all the Ameracaunas and Wyandottes that seem smaller...so maybe it is just the different rates of maturation amongst the breeds? Curious what other people's opinions are. Only fuzzy red heat lampy pictures from today--but here's a video of them from 4 days ago. The chipmunk striped Welsummer seems to be head honcho, and the one with an all brown head I think is the other Welsummer. The medium gray bird without puffy cheeks in the Blue Orpington.

 

[phalenbeck]

My roos raised together have been fine. The problem has been overmating hens, or noise, then they go to freezer camp with the bigger, nicer roo remaining. Same MOSTLY true for Roos not raised together. In time it seems most roos have to be processed for being a pain in the ***/noise/overmating/aggression to people NOT fighting.

 

[COCKmasters999]

We raised 5 from our last hatch and they're all fine together. Most of the fighting they do is play but we noticed that in the morning when they crow back and forth that once let out of the cage they go right at each other. As if to establish the top cock of the day or something. We had a 6th roo and he was a monster 10.5 lb Cornish X that ran the flock but has since moved on to our bellies. I could sit outside and watch my flock all day if I had the time because watching them interact with each other is nothing short of entertaining. We noticed that they ALL really do protect each other and it was made obvious the other day when we had an early morning Fox attack. 3 roosters fought back and it cost them their lives but....not one single hen was harmed.

 

[COCKmasters999]

This was Foghorn....our fattest *******

 

[yackety27]

i have two roosters with six hens and they were grouped with one rooster having two of the hens and the other was raised with the rest they just recently went outside and i thought i would see if they would get along so i put the bigger group out and they did great so then added other three and at first the first rooster would do the whole chest thing and the second rooster would walk away. i have yet to have a fight. first day was mostly pecking but no one has had any blood and none have pinned each other yet,

Question time. Since they are young now. if i keep them raised from now on should i worry about fightng in the future?

 

[kacklinghen]

I have 20 hens and 4 roosters all teenagers (except for 3 of the hens is 7 months). I was wondering about the same thing, I only wanted one rooster but got 4 instead.

 

[Kaiyum]

I believe that there will be no big problem in raising rooster together. There will be little fight that happens usually among the rooster but that will not be a tough fight.

 

[sarahandbray]

My first flock of 45 is now 9-weeks-old, straight-run, and the 20+ boys I have all get along fine. First thing in the day, they must run out feeling their oats, because they often fluff up stare each other down, and have a 10-second scuffle. One walks away, no harm, no foul.
This may change, however, so I'm slowly re homing the Roos I don't want to keep. Have sold 6 so far for between $5-$15. Every bit of $$ goes to offset the cost of feed and gear for these chickens! I may have to give away my Red Star and Black Star Roos, however, since they're not a purebred Heritage breed

I do feel very fortunate to have a 40'X40' electrified pasture they're in. Plenty of room to run away. Hoping to keep some of that cleared this winter and will encourage them to go out as much as possible to keep the bad behaviors from starting, as I've heard they can when they're "cooped up!"