Rooster and hens together or separate coops at night?

[bakersdozenroo]

Hello everyone! First time chicken owner. I have 12 10 day old female chicks and 1 6 week old rooster. Right now I have all the girls in their own brooder and I have the rooster in a large dog crate, all in my spare bedroom. I am thinking I am going to have to move the rooster to the coop sooner rather than later as I don’t think he will like staying in the dog crate. He is really friendly right now and I hope he stays that way (his father is very friendly). I originally was going to keep him in his own coop at night, the hens in their own coop, and then letting them all free range together during the day. Now I’m not so sure because he seems really social and his coop needs some work (it’s the older coop). Should I just keep him with the girls or should I fix up his coop?

 

[bobbi-j]

I’m curious as to why would you keep them in separate coops at night?

 

[nuthatched]

Do you have older hens currently?
Put everyone out asap and if you have older birds put the cockerel with them.
They'll go roost together no matter what

 

[bakersdozenroo]

I’m curious as to why would you keep them in separate coops at night?

I had heard it will help keep him less aggressive? Thankfully he is really sweet right now (loves sleeping on my 8 year old daughter’s lap). I really want to keep him that way.

 

[bakersdozenroo]

Do you have older hens currently?
Put everyone out asap and if you have older birds put the cockerel with them.
They'll go roost together no matter what

No I just have the 12 little girls and him. I had not planned it this way but my mail order rooster chick didn’t happen (not enough hatchlings) and I found a local hatchery that had some young roosters so I got him.

 

[bakersdozenroo]

Here is their setup right now

 

[BigBlueHen53]

When your cockerel gets to be 12 to 15 weeks old and reaches sexual maturity, that's when you might have to separate him from the girls. For now, he's fine. The males mature earlier than the girls, and he may start chasing them, jumping on them and grabbing hold of the feathers on the back of their necks. They won't like it bc they won't be ready for those kinds of shenanigans and they'll run from him and try to hide from him.

I would not let your children make a pet of him.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

When your pullets (the girls) begin to lay, then you may be able to put them back together. But at that point, the cockerel may not want humans around his flock, so you'll need to carefully supervise any interaction between your chld(ren) and the cockerel.

FYI, a cockerel is a young male chicken under a year of age, and a pullet is a young female under a year. On their birthdays they become rooster and hens, respectively.

 

[bakersdozenroo]

When your cockerel gets to be 12 to 15 weeks old and reaches sexual maturity, that's when you might have to separate him from the girls. For now, he's fine. The males mature earlier than the girls, and he may start chasing them, jumping on them and grabbing hold of the feathers on the back of their necks. They won't like it bc they won't be ready for those kinds of shenanigans and they'll run from him and try to hide from him.

I would not let your children make a pet of him.

First time chicken owner mistake; I should have researched the sexual maturity of the chickens. So should I just keep him separate until the pullets are older, 16 weeks? Would I just keep him by himself in his own coop with his run? Could I try supervised visits and see how he does?

 

[bakersdozenroo]

When your pullets (the girls) begin to lay, then you may be able to put them back together. But at that point, the cockerel may not want humans around his flock, so you'll need to carefully supervise any interaction between your chld(ren) and the cockerel.

FYI, a cockerel is a young male chicken under a year of age, and a pullet is a young female under a year. On their birthdays they become rooster and hens, respectively.

The hatchery I got the cockerel from she said she has only been breading with calm rooster as aggression can be genetic and she did not want an aggressive rooster for her children or hens. His father was very calm and you could go up and pet him. We know he’s not a pet, I just didn’t want him to attack us or have my daughter be afraid of him.