Rooster Flocks!

[KeliD]

I didn't know you could keep males together without them fighting especially if there are girls around. My husband seems to think they will eventually get mean if they are separated from the girls. Is there truth to that? I know some birds (parrots) do get mean if they are never allowed to mate, is this true of chickens? Would it be wise to separate out all of the males and rotate their time with the girls? I am not interested in breeding. We enjoy them as pets and eventually for the eggs to eat. The boys all get along well so far but they don't have spurs yet. They are only about 10-12 weeks old.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I didn't know you could keep males together without them fighting especially if there are girls around. My husband seems to think they will eventually get mean if they are separated from the girls. Is there truth to that? I know some birds (parrots) do get mean if they are never allowed to mate, is this true of chickens? Would it be wise to separate out all of the males and rotate their time with the girls? I am not interested in breeding. We enjoy them as pets and eventually for the eggs to eat. The boys all get along well so far but they don't have spurs yet. They are only about 10-12 weeks old.

If they are in the same pen with the hens and there aren't enough hens they will fight. But, usually, roosters will get along fine if they are in a rooster-only flock with no hens. I would not suggest rotating them, they will fight each time they are reintroduced with each other.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

McMurray sent us 6 roosters as fillers, I called to report that we had lost some of the fancy chicks I had ordered and asked about the ones with the blue marks on their heads and was told to drown them, that wasn't going to happen. So we ended up with our batchelor gang.
We kept them with the other chicks for the first few weeks but they grew much faster so eventually they were separated to their own area.
Still have no idea what actual breed they were our best guess would be some sort of sex link hybrid, they had great temperaments and really didn't fight much. We lost one early on then another 3 to a raccoon the remaining 2 ended up living in our garage/barn. JimmyRoo and BossHoss had to be the friendliest roosters around, Jim would actually wait to be picked up and petted, Boss not quite so much but would still take food from our hands.
Sadly we lost JimmyRoo to a hawk attack, Boss decided to try his luck at the farm next door but the resident rooster wasn't so keen so he went to a friend as her only roo to look after 30 ladies of his own. Last reports say he is a happy boy and looks after his ladies nicely.
The chances of ever getting another roo like Jimmy are slim so I'll stick with my boy Galahad who is flock master to my 10 girls out back.

Could you post a picture of one of the roosters? I might be able to identify the breed.

 

[KentuckyRooster]

I've successfully kept roos together. No problems ever and in small flocks. You usually get a "top dog" and then everyone else will fall into line or in a very large group they will harem off into groups and ignore one another unless they go face off over a resource (bug, scrap of corn, etc) and then they will scuff a bit and walk off.

Certain breeds I would never ever try it with. Those bred to fight in recent times I wouldn't do it with. Most bantams seem to take really well to it especially polish. Polish tend to be docile roos in my experience and usually will tolerate others.

 

[ShrekDawg]

McMurray sent us 6 roosters as fillers, I called to report that we had lost some of the fancy chicks I had ordered and asked about the ones with the blue marks on their heads and was told to drown them, that wasn't going to happen. So we ended up with our batchelor gang.
We kept them with the other chicks for the first few weeks but they grew much faster so eventually they were separated to their own area.
Still have no idea what actual breed they were our best guess would be some sort of sex link hybrid, they had great temperaments and really didn't fight much. We lost one early on then another 3 to a raccoon the remaining 2 ended up living in our garage/barn. JimmyRoo and BossHoss had to be the friendliest roosters around, Jim would actually wait to be picked up and petted, Boss not quite so much but would still take food from our hands.
Sadly we lost JimmyRoo to a hawk attack, Boss decided to try his luck at the farm next door but the resident rooster wasn't so keen so he went to a friend as her only roo to look after 30 ladies of his own. Last reports say he is a happy boy and looks after his ladies nicely.
The chances of ever getting another roo like Jimmy are slim so I'll stick with my boy Galahad who is flock master to my 10 girls out back.

What kind of a business or any decent human being tells people to drown a living animal!? What the heck!? You could rehome them or even if they were to be culled, there are much quicker and more humane ways than drowning... I mean really!! Wow.... Glad you didn't listen and kept them!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Great topic! I do keep a rooster coop also, to grow out the youngsters mostly.. Then, whomever is the choice of Roo to hatch from, he gets his freedom with the ladies a few months. Multiple hatching of different breeds just means rotating free range days. The rooster just stays with his specific breed coop. Mean spirited roosters are quickly weeded out this way also. Come winter, if I have fellas that are just too exceptional for the freezer, they winter over in the rooster coop. This gives my hens a break. Since my flocks free range during the day, a rooster is very valuable to me. Each breed I keep always has a fella, but he better be well mannered. My hens can always see the roosters, so integration is never an issue come laying season.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

What kind of a business or any decent human being tells people to drown a living animal!? What the heck!? You could rehome them or even if they were to be culled, there are much quicker and more humane ways than drowning... I mean really!! Wow.... Glad you didn't listen and kept them!

I agree. That made me sick to my stomach to read.

 

[Peekin In]

Here is a photo of JimmyRoo ... err on his favourite chair watching tv :\

Jimmy was the whitest of the bunch the rest had patches of brown on their feathers and I think the person that told me to drown them probably meant to cull them apparently its usual to send fillers when an order isn't very large. My order was for 18 chicks which got misrouted by the post office and arrived 2 days late, unfortunately I lost most of the fancies I had ordered and the fillers survived

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Here is a photo of JimmyRoo ... err on his favourite chair watching tv :\
View attachment 1076128
Jimmy was the whitest of the bunch the rest had patches of brown on their feathers and I think the person that told me to drown them probably meant to cull them apparently its usual to send fillers when an order isn't very large. My order was for 18 chicks which got misrouted by the post office and arrived 2 days late, unfortunately I lost most of the fancies I had ordered and the fillers survived

Sometimes my roosters get to watch TV too, lol.

I think JimmyRoo is a white Plymouth Rock, but if the other roos had brown patches they might have been red sex links.

 

[lcertuche]

I had 12 black sex link cockerels and they were mean as all get out. They kept my poor little pullets running all the time. They were pretty good eating but small. If I was going to raise another flock of boys I'd make it Cornish Crosses.