Rooster Bachelor Pad Transition

[HeatherKellyB]

I have more than one bachelor Flock and their coops/runs are right beside the girls. I can't add more cockerels/roosters to an already made bachelor flock, but the boys that were brooded together, do really well so far, in my experience. Yes, they do try to shake up the pecking order once in a while, but I don't believe it's more than usual. My oldest bachelor Flock is 3 boys that are almost 2 years old (20 months). They've went through probably 3 pecking order shake ups, but the head rooster has always been the same. I also have 3 Bantam roosters that free range everyday and a blue Silkie is the leader of them. He can be a bit assertive/aggressive with my bantam cochin rooster, especially in the mornings, but I've started keeping the Cochin with me while I do everything and things go much more smoothly like that. By the time I finish, the initial morning emotions have calmed down and everyone is fine. It all depends on each bird, in my experience. I hope this helps.

 

[indiefoxfarm]

I have more than one bachelor Flock and their coops/runs are right beside the girls. I can't add more cockerels/roosters to an already made bachelor flock, but the boys that were brooded together, do really well so far, in my experience. Yes, they do try to shake up the pecking order once in a while, but I don't believe it's more than usual. My oldest bachelor Flock is 3 boys that are almost 2 years old (20 months). They've went through probably 3 pecking order shake ups, but the head rooster has always been the same. I also have 3 Bantam roosters that free range everyday and a blue Silkie is the leader of them. He can be a bit assertive/aggressive with my bantam cochin rooster, especially in the mornings, but I've started keeping the Cochin with me while I do everything and things go much more smoothly like that. By the time I finish, the initial morning emotions have calmed down and everyone is fine. It all depends on each bird, in my experience. I hope this helps.

Thanks so much for sharing! That's really helpful and encouraging to hear you're having success with multiple bachelor flocks. My 5 were indeed raised together and are very attached. So far they've been getting along well other than some minor scuffles.

On the ones that you free range, how do you encourage them to roost where they're supposed to? I'm worried mine will just camp out in front of the main coop where the hens are.

 

[Flat Earth]

I had problems with my group sleeping in a tree at night, and owls fly around at night were we are! Kept mine in the coop a couple of days and the ones that did not go in, i collect them at night and place them in the coop. At lease you can have 6 in the same place, my rooster would not allow another rooster in the yard. Hope it works out for you.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Thanks so much for sharing! That's really helpful and encouraging to hear you're having success with multiple bachelor flocks. My 5 were indeed raised together and are very attached. So far they've been getting along well other than some minor scuffles.

On the ones that you free range, how do you encourage them to roost where they're supposed to? I'm worried mine will just camp out in front of the main coop where the hens are.

They actually sleep in the coop with the girls. Because of the awnings over the ventilation openings, it stays very dark inside the coop even after first light, so it's too dark for them to get down off the roost. I take them out in the morning, before the door is opened that allows light to come in. In the afternoons, I lock the boys in the run and let the girls free range. Once the girls go to roost in the coop at dark, I bring the boys in, one by one, and place them on their own roost. We have a fox den nearby and I hear owls hooting very often. I want to try to keep them safe because one of the foxes has casually walked up one evening, while I was going through and counting everyone. This has happened twice now! I'm working on removing the foxes asap, but I still feel better having them sleep in a coop. I've got an empty coop, but so far this is working well.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I'll go ahead and warn you that some people believe that bachelor flocks are cruel, but we all have to do the best we can with what we have. I really should cull my 3 aggressive guys, but I've been saying that for quite some time now. For me, it's an awful lot easier said than done. I wish you the very best. I hope that you figure out what works best for you and your family. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions that I can answer