Rooster Advice Please!

[am7039]

So I could really use some advice with my current rooster situation. I have a flock of 21, 7 of them being cockerels. They range in age of 3 to 4 months. I created a bachelor pad that houses 3 4 month old cockerels. The other 4 are in with the flock of ladies. I have one extremely dominate silkie cockerel who thinks he is king. He has claimed all the ladies and has the other roosters in the flock acting like hens. The reality is, I just have to many roos to manage right now. The 3 that are in the bachelor pad are established and will not allow any others to integrate in. The silkie is really sweet to humans and enjoys cuddles but he is NOT nice to the ladies. He is grabbing them by the neck, the back, pulling out clumps of feathers. On a regular basis I here awful screaming from the girls. The other roos in the flock are younger and haven't really shown how they would behave with the ladies. I haven't had the heart to cull the roos just because they are roos and I did want to have at least one in the flock. Any thoughts on how I should proceed to being peace to the flock? Any suggestions on how to pick the right roo to keep with the ladies? I got myself in a bit of a mess with my love of hatching eggs knowing the risk of too many roos.

 

[Mrs. K]

The first time I had too many birds, I had a predator help me out. A stressful situation, but what I noticed almost immediately was how more relaxed the flock was, with the excess gone. After that, I was much more in tune with the tension in my flock.

My rambling point is, I would expect your flock to be under a lot of tension. Always solve for peace in the flock. I would cull anything upsetting the hens. Anything you don't like for any reason goes, whittle it down. An obvious choice usually becomes evident over time.

Two coops are nice, for all sorts of reasons. But you don't need to run them all year long.

Mrs K

 

[adstowe]

There is no set number of how many roosters to hens will work. It's entirely dependant on your specific birds. Just go with what works for your personal situation. For example, I currently have 12 hens and 2 roosters. That would sound out of proportion based on the constantly mentioned 10:1 ratio, but one rooster is very skittish and only concerned with minding his own business and staying out of the way of the alpha. Things could change at any time, but currently they work fine. The number of birds I keep is fluid and constantly changing based on need and managing the harmony within the flock.

 

[April0617]

So I could really use some advice with my current rooster situation. I have a flock of 21, 7 of them being cockerels. They range in age of 3 to 4 months. I created a bachelor pad that houses 3 4 month old cockerels. The other 4 are in with the flock of ladies. I have one extremely dominate silkie cockerel who thinks he is king. He has claimed all the ladies and has the other roosters in the flock acting like hens. The reality is, I just have to many roos to manage right now. The 3 that are in the bachelor pad are established and will not allow any others to integrate in. The silkie is really sweet to humans and enjoys cuddles but he is NOT nice to the ladies. He is grabbing them by the neck, the back, pulling out clumps of feathers. On a regular basis I here awful screaming from the girls. The other roos in the flock are younger and haven't really shown how they would behave with the ladies. I haven't had the heart to cull the roos just because they are roos and I did want to have at least one in the flock. Any thoughts on how I should proceed to being peace to the flock? Any suggestions on how to pick the right roo to keep with the ladies? I got myself in a bit of a mess with my love of hatching eggs knowing the risk of too many roos.

I'm new to roosters this year, but my suggestion would be to get rid of the silkie and work your way down the line, if the next in line is a good boy with you and the girls, then you have your roo. I know it sucks to get rid of any animal that's sweet to you, but if he's that nasty to the girls, your flock will be stressed and he will pass those jerk genes on. We went through a similar situation. Our "top" boy was great with us and was actually fairly good with girls, but targeted one in particular too much. We free range, so I gave them a chance to work out the kinks, she ended up separating herself from the flock to avoid him and I lost her. My heart hurts and I lost a good girl. After that I watched who was nice to me but also who my girls seemed to react to most positively. I ended up culling two, found my other sweet boy a new home with his own flock of girls, and kept the one that the girls say they like best. So far he's been a good boy.

 

[am7039]

If we had the room, it would have been tempting. Those boys can really be hard to let go

For sure he will be tough to let go. He is beautiful and so cuddly

 

[Folly's place]

It might be fine, or not. Be ready to go to Plan B at any time, and especially in spring when everyone is more mature, and hormones are up.
Mary

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree with Mary - plan B is always good to have up and ready to go with.

You might consider, putting the all 4 of the roosters together for the winter. And pick a winner in the spring. Just another idea.

Adding a single bird to an established groups is hard, adding a pair, is apt to go better. A lot depends on the age of your hens...are they older than you roosters or all the same age? If the same age, I would pull them till the next spring.

Mrs K

 

[am7039]

I'm new to roosters this year, but my suggestion would be to get rid of the silkie and work your way down the line, if the next in line is a good boy with you and the girls, then you have your roo. I know it sucks to get rid of any animal that's sweet to you, but if he's that nasty to the girls, your flock will be stressed and he will pass those jerk genes on. We went through a similar situation. Our "top" boy was great with us and was actually fairly good with girls, but targeted one in particular too much. We free range, so I gave them a chance to work out the kinks, she ended up separating herself from the flock to avoid him and I lost her. My heart hurts and I lost a good girl. After that I watched who was nice to me but also who my girls seemed to react to most positively. I ended up culling two, found my other sweet boy a new home with his own flock of girls, and kept the one that the girls say they like best. So far he's been a good boy.

Thank you so much for your response. It was very helpful in sharing your story with me. I think it's a great decision. I thought about maybe just starting a second bachelor flock and removing the silkie and trying out the other boys but the reality of having 3 seperate flocks doesnt appeal to me..lol

 

[Flockincrazy]

So I could really use some advice with my current rooster situation. I have a flock of 21, 7 of them being cockerels. They range in age of 3 to 4 months. I created a bachelor pad that houses 3 4 month old cockerels. The other 4 are in with the flock of ladies. I have one extremely dominate silkie cockerel who thinks he is king. He has claimed all the ladies and has the other roosters in the flock acting like hens. The reality is, I just have to many roos to manage right now. The 3 that are in the bachelor pad are established and will not allow any others to integrate in. The silkie is really sweet to humans and enjoys cuddles but he is NOT nice to the ladies. He is grabbing them by the neck, the back, pulling out clumps of feathers. On a regular basis I here awful screaming from the girls. The other roos in the flock are younger and haven't really shown how they would behave with the ladies. I haven't had the heart to cull the roos just because they are roos and I did want to have at least one in the flock. Any thoughts on how I should proceed to being peace to the flock? Any suggestions on how to pick the right roo to keep with the ladies? I got myself in a bit of a mess with my love of hatching eggs knowing the risk of too many roos.

I would get rid of the silkie roo or put him in the batchler coop they will except him it won't be immediately but they will I rescue roos I currently have 25 in my batchler coop most at different ages and times of taking them in it takes time good luck

 

[ElizaMay]

Nothing wrong at all with a ratio of 2 roos to 16 hens!