Rooster dilemma

[Mooocoow7]

I would like to know if My 5 week old flock of 20 with 10 silver wyandottes, 8 golden comets and 2 unknows is going to have any problems with 4 to 7 roosters that were all raised together. The 4 that are definitely roosters are golden comets. There are 2 unknowns in terms of breed an sex (they were from a mail order hatchery and were supposed to be goldencomets but there feathers are different see picture below. And I should add that they weren't extra because i ordered 20 and got 20.) And one sliver wyandotte that might be one. Normally this would cuase problems but sense they are being raised together so they will have a pecking order. Will this cuase a problem or no. Also does having hens raise chicks an one if the chicks being roosters make the pre existing roosters see the new one as an invader.

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

I think the best ratio for hens and roosters would be one rooster for every eight to ten hens. If you want to keep all of your roosters, you will need to either get about fifty more hens or put all but one rooster in a separate pen. Even if they are raised together, once their hormones kick in they will start fighting over the girls.

 

[VictoriaTemple]

Oh boy, you’re gonna get a lot of different answers on this one! The easiest answer is “1 roo per flock”, but personally I’ve never found that acceptable for mine. It honestly depends on the cockerels, and the head rooster. They are all individuals with their own personalities (which of course is why we love them so much!) . It’s not just hormones, they make choices.

In my case, my head rooster already lives with another adult roo, who is fat, lazy, and shows little interest (but not NO interest) in breeding (there are 11 hens). #1 Roo chases #2 Roo around the yard several times a day to prove his dominance, and if #2 tries to breed a hen, #1 races over and knocks him off. They almost never truly fight, though both are capable of injuring each other. My beloved and recently deceased Jersey Giant used to be #1, and he managed the other 2 roos quite well. I’m currently introducing my March babies to the flock, 5 out of 8 were cockerels. So far #1 Roo has accepted 3 of them graciously, and I haven’t tried the other 2 yet.

The March babies are about 10 weeks old now, and they have been in a separate pen with my bantams adjoining the main pen for a month. The bantam Cochin roo is on my list because he can’t live with other roosters (he soundly and viciously beat up both #1 and #2 on his only visit), and he will guard bantams and babies untilI have a better one to do the job. Then he’s soup. That’s really the key to keeping roosters, I think, learn which ones to keep and encourage to be a family, and which to enjoy for dinner. I have 17 chicks in the brooder now and an incubator on its way from Amazon, and I will raise and integrate these just like the March babies. It seems to work. Besides, I’ve heard roosters are delicious.

With your situation, the biggest questions are, will they get along, and are you willing to feed them? If you are committed to their care, I’d say raise them with the girls and try to integrate them with your existing flock at the appropriate age. If your adults, won’t tolerate them, keep them separately penned as a bachelor flock. PLEASE don’t release them to freerange, as this attracts predators to your flock, since they will likely stay close. Bachelor flocks are awesome when you have the space. The boys get along great when they don’t need to compete over sex.

 

[keesmom]

The cockerel in the first picture is a Delaware, not a red sex link.

The cockerels may get along just fine. However the pullets may have a rough time with all that testosterone.

 

[neo71665]

Once the hormones kick in those hens will get over bred by the roosters trying to make sure it's his genes passed on. That's if the boys don't fight each other to the death (far more likely outcome).

 

[Mooocoow7]

Oh boy, you’re gonna get a lot of different answers on this one! The easiest answer is “1 roo per flock”, but personally I’ve never found that acceptable for mine. It honestly depends on the cockerels, and the head rooster. They are all individuals with their own personalities (which of course is why we love them so much!) . It’s not just hormones, they make choices.

In my case, my head rooster already lives with another adult roo, who is fat, lazy, and shows little interest (but not NO interest) in breeding (there are 11 hens). #1 Roo chases #2 Roo around the yard several times a day to prove his dominance, and if #2 tries to breed a hen, #1 races over and knocks him off. They almost never truly fight, though both are capable of injuring each other. My beloved and recently deceased Jersey Giant used to be #1, and he managed the other 2 roos quite well. I’m currently introducing my March babies to the flock, 5 out of 8 were cockerels. So far #1 Roo has accepted 3 of them graciously, and I haven’t tried the other 2 yet.

The March babies are about 10 weeks old now, and they have been in a separate pen with my bantams adjoining the main pen for a month. The bantam Cochin roo is on my list because he can’t live with other roosters (he soundly and viciously beat up both #1 and #2 on his only visit), and he will guard bantams and babies untilI have a better one to do the job. Then he’s soup. That’s really the key to keeping roosters, I think, learn which ones to keep and encourage to be a family, and which to enjoy for dinner. I have 17 chicks in the brooder now and an incubator on its way from Amazon, and I will raise and integrate these just like the March babies. It seems to work. Besides, I’ve heard roosters are delicious.

With your situation, the biggest questions are, will they get along, and are you willing to feed them? If you are committed to their care, I’d say raise them with the girls and try to integrate them with your existing flock at the appropriate age. If your adults, won’t tolerate them, keep them separately penned as a bachelor flock. PLEASE don’t release them to freerange, as this attracts predators to your flock, since they will likely stay close. Bachelor flocks are awesome when you have the space. The boys get along great when they don’t need to compete over sex.

As of now they get along great aside from establishing the pecking order. I dont have a existing flock so I dont have to worry about integrating them. I have been thinking of putting some more hens in there to keep the roosters happier when they all get horny. I'm not worried about predators because the neighbors have been letting there chickens roam free for the last 10 years and the only fatalities were caused by there dog that they ended up shooting. Though I'm not going to let them free until they are large enough for the hawks to not be a problem.