That's a good rooster.
i love roos , i didn't plan it this was but its worked out well, I have 8 roos right now of different breeds matching the breeds of hens i own, and also because of this i cna make sex links to order.! but ever since they were chicks as soon as we could tell they were boys, we put them 2 in a large forever pen , i only had to separate 2 roos a Br & Delaware roo at around one year the Br beat up the del roo, so now they each have a large pen , one thing if you are keeping roos together they need room.! so one pare of RIR & NHR i call the boys, their pen is 40x40 with a cute little A frame house & a few out side roosts they can hang out on under a large tree for shade , they get along well plus my SLW & CW roos live together fred mertz the cw roo & Silvester the slw roo have a shaded pen about 60x60 foot with a little Quonset hut style home they love, so that's working out great for them but the DEL roo Bill & BR roo ELWOOD were in side the big coop in a pen with windows so they could see out , it was a 4 x16 pen and that didn't seem to work for them since they began fighting , so the BR Eldwood has that pen all to him self , & the Delaware Bill has a pen thats even bigger 6 x 16 but they can still see each other & all the hens, so they are ok living that way, i also have 2 of the best roos you would ever want since they hardly ever crow, one blue & one splash aussie roos are pretty much quite.! and dont crow hardly at all but maybe that i noticed once a day at sun set but the other roos crow several times a day starting at 3:30 am & i noticed that the black australorp roo i had once did crow more like the other breeds of roos , so my amazing blue & splash aussie roos are quite & sweet and very good with the hens , they came from Hupp australorps in AZ at a year old , but didn't get along, so my biggest aussie roo mr Blue the roo , i leave out with the hens he is the best of any roo and does his job well, & since most all of my eggs are fertile and i keep some were around 70 hens , so blue is in good working order to say the least HA , but my darling sweet splash aussie roo Big bird lives like a king & has a very nice in door & a good size out door pen thats about 10 x 30 and well shaded on one side just for him the out door pen is along side the coop & he also has the best inside pen along side the hens, since he has no buddy to sleep next to on cold nights like the other pairs of roos do , big bird stays warm in winter & cool in summer along with the hens , i have to say he is a pretty happy guy HA , i love roos they are very interesting and smart & i have to say can make great pets.! even if you cant get the kind that dont crow that much..!Hello Rooster fans!
I hope I am posting in the right place... I have been reading through this thread, but figured in the mean time i'm gonna post my questions too!
Basically we had a fox knock down our hen population. We had 3 roos, and 17 hens. We are now down to 10 hens, and 3 roosters
The roosters obviously started to damage back feathers, but we were dealing with other more important issues like mites, and worms YUCK! (we thought because they were free ranging during the day they were able to get away, and would be OK until we could handle it) Well one hen got her side ripped open (which is healing fine), and my two Faverolles started acting quite rude. So we separated them in a temp run, until I could catch my breath, and put thought into it..... wounds are healed, pests are gone... Now to deal with the boys!
We want to build a rooster pad addition off of the current coop/run. I have chicks (to re-up our hen #'s), and there are def. some more roos in the bunch. Currently all boys are well behaved. The two separated faverolles are pretty low key. They are getting sick of being plucked off the roost early AM, and being put into the temp. run though, and I would like to really get them set up nicely with room to accommodate the upcoming additions. I've been thinking that I can alternate days that the boys, and girls get to range once they are set up nice. I started with a hen only flock, but really enjoy the roosters personalities. I don't have the heart to get rid of them "just because"...
The main info i'm looking for is space requirements? What do they need for run, and coop space? Their run will be covered, and winterized.
They will be able to see the hens, and they do interact with the ladies through the fence, which I find amusing.
Help give me direction! I'm posting pictures of the boys in their temp run. They have separate hide spots which they share or use separately depending on their moods.
The big grey boy is Abraham. He is the top roo. He had the most polite interactions with the girls. They instantly looked more relaxed with just him.
Your set up sounds wonderful!! I did not plan on loving my roosters either!! Our yard is sloping, and very wooded so multiple large runs isn't as much of an option. I have read that some people alternate the free range days. Boys one day, and girls another... I'm thinking this might work for us as long as I get their set up right for days they are closed in. The crowing doesn't bother me so much, the faverolles aren't too loud. They actually crow back and forth with the neighbors roosters! I love hearing them in the morning around town. I'm thinking on large covered run off of our current one, with a rooster coop attached. Do your rooster coops need anything other than the roosts? the obviously don't need nest boxes. I know I have 2 more chicks that are for sure faverolle roos, but the others are crosses, and I have no idea yet! Any tips on telling the sex sooner rather than later? Everyone has transitioned into the flock with ease so far, but I understand that they would need to be part of the rooster flock before they start crowing. Do you pair them by twos based on who gets along best?i love roos , i didn't plan it this was but its worked out well, I have 8 roos right now of different breeds matching the breeds of hens i own, and also because of this i cna make sex links to order.! but ever since they were chicks as soon as we could tell they were boys, we put them 2 in a large forever pen , i only had to separate 2 roos a Br & Delaware roo at around one year the Br beat up the del roo, so now they each have a large pen , one thing if you are keeping roos together they need room.! so one pare of RIR & NHR i call the boys, their pen is 40x40 with a cute little A frame house & a few out side roosts they can hang out on under a large tree for shade , they get along well plus my SLW & CW roos live together fred mertz the cw roo & Silvester the slw roo have a shaded pen about 60x60 foot with a little Quonset hut style home they love, so that's working out great for them but the DEL roo Bill & BR roo ELWOOD were in side the big coop in a pen with windows so they could see out , it was a 4 x16 pen and that didn't seem to work for them since they began fighting , so the BR Eldwood has that pen all to him self , & the Delaware Bill has a pen thats even bigger 6 x 16 but they can still see each other & all the hens, so they are ok living that way, i also have 2 of the best roos you would ever want since they hardly ever crow, one blue & one splash aussie roos are pretty much quite.! and dont crow hardly at all but maybe that i noticed once a day at sun set but the other roos crow several times a day starting at 3:30 am & i noticed that the black australorp roo i had once did crow more like the other breeds of roos , so my amazing blue & splash aussie roos are quite & sweet and very good with the hens , they came from Hupp australorps in AZ at a year old , but didn't get along, so my biggest aussie roo mr Blue the roo , i leave out with the hens he is the best of any roo and does his job well, & since most all of my eggs are fertile and i keep some were around 70 hens , so blue is in good working order to say the least HA , but my darling sweet splash aussie roo Big bird lives like a king & has a very nice in door & a good size out door pen thats about 10 x 30 and well shaded on one side just for him the out door pen is along side the coop & he also has the best inside pen along side the hens, since he has no buddy to sleep next to on cold nights like the other pairs of roos do , big bird stays warm in winter & cool in summer along with the hens , i have to say he is a pretty happy guy HA , i love roos they are very interesting and smart & i have to say can make great pets.! even if you cant get the kind that dont crow that much..!
yes i go by who gets along best for picking pairs, it was good that i had even numbers HA , but finding the roos sooner then later , some times they are the ones in front of every one when it comes to new things in there environment , mine were very funny i put very color ful posters in their brooders for a fun toy and the 2 roos i knew who they were because i had ordered them, both were first to run up to it to check out the new toy , in this same group of chicks of one SLW &all the rest CW we had one chick that was not well with pasty butt, and i was amazed to see the 2 males who were actively trying to care for her , they slept on either side of her like to give her more warmth, they were very attentive towards her, and it seemed they were caring for that chick, using sheer instinct in such young chicks..! all under a week old , but i healed my sick little chick in short order so my CW chick was fine & i still have her today such a beautiful Colombian wyandott hen,and so to her hatch mate roos , fred mertz a CW & Silvester a SLW, both happy boys , but also one thing i did notice in roo chicks is in some breeds the boys have a lot of missing feathers directly on the back, just below the neck area , it looks like they are partly bald in that area ,but this more apparent in white birds , then also look for the waddles , they are usually more developed, but with all theses clues like the chick that is always the first to investigate all new things in their environment , plus usually the young roos will perch on the highest places , on the tallest object they can like their water bottle..Ha yeah not fun when they tip it over a lot. so thats when i change to the nipple drinkers HA ,so with theses clues , if you have more then 1or 2 clues, i would say that's your roo chic, so in my pic the 2 big chicks are the 2 males &the smaller one at the end is a girl CW i believe was the same chick the 2 boys tried to care for.
View attachment 1113777 View attachment 1113777 yes i go by who gets along best for picking pairs, it was good that i had even numbers HA , but finding the roos sooner then later , some times they are the ones in front of every one when it comes to new things in there environment , mine were very funny i put very color ful posters in their brooders for a fun toy and the 2 roos i knew who they were because i had ordered them, both were first to run up to it to check out the new toy , in this same group of chicks of one SLW &all the rest CW we had one chick that was not well with pasty butt, and i was amazed to see the 2 males who were actively trying to care for her , they slept on either side of her like to give her more warmth, they were very attentive towards her, and it seemed they were caring for that chick, using sheer instinct in such young chicks..! all under a week old , but i healed my sick little chick in short order so my CW chick was fine & i still have her today such a beautiful Colombian wyandott hen,and so to her hatch mate roos , fred mertz a CW & Silvester a SLW, both happy boys , but also one thing i did notice in roo chicks is in some breeds the boys have a lot of missing feathers directly on the back, just below the neck area , it looks like they are partly bald in that area ,but this more apparent in white birds , then also look for the waddles , they are usually more developed, but with all theses clues like the chick that is always the first to investigate all new things in their environment , plus usually the young roos will perch on the highest places , on the tallest object they can like their water bottle..Ha yeah not fun when they tip it over a lot. so thats when i change to the nipple drinkers HA ,so with theses clues , if you have more then 1or 2 clues, i would say that's your roo chic, so in my pic the 2 big chicks are the 2 males &the smaller one at the end is a girl CW i believe was the same chick the 2 boys tried to care for.
Hormones in chickens increase in the spring and decrease in the fall which causes combs and fertility to rise and fall.
