Rooster bachelor pad

[Yorkshiregal]

Hi so I’ve read a lot about keeping roosters together. I have 7. Two of my handsome golden laced Wyandotte’s became very bossy and big quickly so we moved them to an acre where it’s pretty secure. They have a coop for themselves and seem to be doing great. We tried to move one of our rooster bantam silkies with them and it looked like they were trying to kill him. They were all raised together mind you so I thought it would be cool! Nope So we took him out and put him back with the flock. Turns out I have four bantam silkie terrors. They are pretty small but are attacking my hens gang style!!! I want to know if I should try and put the 4 Back with the big guys? Or keep them completely separate, integrate them slowly or just build them their own coop and run. I don’t think these roosters would be good eating? So that’s not an option? Also is it better to have them completely out of site from the hens? We are going to start building something this weekend but not sure where. I’ve e read as much as possible but I’d like some extra input thanks so much!

 

[CatWhisperer]

Actually I’ve read that silkies are good eating, although age matters of course. Have you tried rehoming them? I would not try to keep them with LF roosters. I have 6 month old silkies and seramas that we’re raised together and the little serama roosters are becoming terrors to all the silkies. Wish I could find homes for the serama boys.

 

[Yorkshiregal]

Actually I’ve read that silkies are good eating, although age matters of course. Have you tried rehoming them?

 

[Yorkshiregal]

Trying to get the hang of this posting thing. I live in a rural area so I think most people have chickens. Roosters must be a problem for a lot of people. Good eating? Don’t they have black skin? I need to look into that

 

[aart]

I don’t think these roosters would be good eating?

Any bird can be eaten, just have to process and cook appropriate to age of bird.

Keeping and integrating males together can be just as tricky(or more so) as any other birds.

Is there a reason you want to keep all these males?
Don't know your goals for keeping chickens, but males are pretty worthless if you only want eggs....unless you want fertile eggs to hatch, then you only need one male.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

We have a silkie roo that was integrated late with large fowl Roos and it mostly works.... It took a period of look don’t touch separation, and there was fighting at the beginning. Overall not easy, and the EE roo tries to breed him sometimes, which the silkie does not appreciate! We are actually thinking about eating the silkie roo: he’s the only rooster that still tries to flog me! It’s more annoying than scary at his size but is not endearing me to a purely pet bird...

 

[Yorkshiregal]

Any bird can be eaten, just have to process and cook appropriate to age of bird

Is there a reason you want to keep all these males?

Well I have room for the roosters. I’m new to this. I realize now roosters really don’t serve any purpose if your not breeding but my GLW are so beautiful to look at. and they pretty much free range all day. The silkies though are plain annoying. I just wanted to give them a chance at free ranging too.

What age can you eat these birds? I have a neighbor who lives off the land. I could ask him I need to toughen up.

 

[aart]

What age can you eat these birds? I have a neighbor who lives off the land. I could ask him I need to toughen up.

You can eat a bird at any age.

I slaughter cockerels at 13-16 weeks, before they start causing chaos and while still tender enough to grill for that crispy skinned deliciousness. Not much meat but the grilled bones make for some excellent stock. Anything older than that I pressure cook until meat is done and is saved aside then a couple more hours to get that bone broth.

Resting the cleaned carcass in fridge for 48-72 hours for rigor to pass is essential for chewable meat from any bird(except maybe CX?). The older the bird, the longer I rest the carcass up to about 4-5 days. Tho no homegrown bird I've eaten, layer or meat breed, is as soft as a grocery bird, they are more 'toothsome'.

 

[centrarchid]

When I create bachelor groups, like will be doing soon with six American Dominiques and Missouri Dominiques that will be housed in a 10' x 10' dog kennel, every effort made to disrupt their idea of being on home turf. Everyone is then on even footing. They will be kicking each others butt for a while. This does not go unchecked. If someone gets a little too much into scrapping, they are kept apart for a bit to allow soreness to kick in. Then they are released and most of time they go through a brief round of bluffing before someone acquiesces. Then I make so their environment is complex so subordinates can get away from bullies. A key part of that is a piece of plywood that a subordinate can run behind and go completely around if need be. For me, running four or more roosters in a group is better than just 2 or 3. More seems better.

Silkies and the others might be managed in a similar manner. I will be doing my combing before molt gets heavy on tail feathers because on I want the roosters to look pretty in spring.

 

[Yorkshiregal]

When I create bachelor groups, like will be doing soon with six American Dominiques and Missouri Dominiques that will be housed in a 10' x 10' dog kennel, every effort made to disrupt their idea of being on home turf. Everyone is then on even footing. They will be kicking each others butt for a while. This does not go unchecked. If someone gets a little too much into scrapping, they are kept apart for a bit to allow soreness to kick in. Then they are released and most of time they go through a brief round of bluffing before someone acquiesces. Then I make so their environment is complex so subordinates can get away from bullies. A key part of that is a piece of plywood that a subordinate can run behind and go completely around if need be. For me, running four or more roosters in a group is better than just 2 or 3. More seems better.

Silkies and the others might be managed in a similar manner. I will be doing my combing before molt gets heavy on tail feathers because on I want the roosters to look pretty in spring.

That’s good to

You can eat a bird at any age.

I slaughter cockerels at 13-16 weeks, before they start causing chaos and while still tender enough to grill for that crispy skinned deliciousness. Not much meat but the grilled bones make for some excellent stock. Anything older than that I pressure cook until meat is done and is saved aside then a couple more hours to get that bone broth.

Resting the cleaned carcass in fridge for 48-72 hours for rigor to pass is essential for chewable meat from any bird(except maybe CX?). The older the bird, the longer I rest the carcass up to about 4-5 days. Tho no homegrown bird I've eaten, layer or meat breed, is as soft as a grocery bird, they are more 'toothsome'.

That’s great to know good information. I was just about to google. Thank you