Rooster "Bull Pen"

[Luke 13V34]

So, I have 6 (and a possible 7) young roosters developing with 14 (or 15) hens. The roosters are my boys, so to speak, so I don't want to kill them all (maybe one or two), so I was thinking of having a separate pen where I kept them together (and they could not see the hens). I heard this is possible, but I've never tried it obviously.

Anyone have experience? If I take on out for breeding purposes and rotate him back in, would they receive him back or would they think he was an invader? Do they really stay calm when kept together, or is it a blood bath?

All raised together, all less aggressive breed (cochin) except for a mille fleur d'uccle which are semi-aggressive.

I just don't want them fighting or overbreeding the hens, and I don't want to eat them all because they are bantams and worth more as pets than meals anyway.

 

[Folly's place]

Life will be better for all concerned if you start thinking about who should stay, and who needs to be gone. Select maybe two cockrels to keep, and move the others on. Any that are thinking about being human aggressive need to go, and any that won't work well with your hens. That's easy. Then, handsome polite cockrels of some more interesting breeds may be salable, on craigslist, signs with photos at the feed stores. If there's a small livestock auction nearby, that's another possible option. Then there's fixing them for your own freezer, either yourself, or at a processer. Mary

 

[Mrs. K]

Extra roosters is a hard part of chicken raising. I would recommend, deciding who is going to be with the hens, and keep him there. Chickens really dislike change, and roosters really do like just hens. So if you pulled him to put in the bachelor pen, he is going to be a stranger to that 'flock' and adding a single bird to an established flock is not an easy integration. I would anticipate some cock fighting, maybe until death.

You can, of course keep a bachelor pen, and it may work very well. Or it may work for part of them, and others may fight. Roosters are kind of a crap shoot, some are great, and some are terrible, and it can be kind of hard to pick who is who until it happens.

If you are going to keep that many roosters, you do need a plan for the roosters that won't fit in with the others or become human aggressive.

Also, if you keep a rooster with the hens and hatch out eggs, well half of them will be roosters too, so this problem tends to get bigger and bigger.

You can do it, it is your place, but it is not a real long term solution.

Mrs K

 

[Luke 13V34]

Too bad I don't know how to caponize.

 

[Folly's place]

It's abdominal surgery, traditionally done without any anesthetic, to produce big birds for eating. Nasty! The surgery isn't risk free, even in good veterinary hands, and needs to be done when the cockrels are pretty young. Older birds are much more likely to die, and not change behavior either. Mary

 

[Mrs. K]

there is videos on how to do it.