Rooster Flocks!

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I have two silkie roos that have started to turn on each other, and are being aggressive with the silkie pullets. There are 7 total - 2 roosters and 5 pullets. All are 4 1/2 months old and have grown up together.

I have a much larger coop for another flock that is a mix, but is mostly silkies. I put the 5 young pullets in there yesterday, keeping them separated from the regulars using chicken wire, and tried the two roosters alone in the smaller coop area. They went at each other.

Any suggestions? I do have two other roosters, one in each of my larger coops, but they are thriving and happy and I don't want to unsettle them.

They might just be establishing the pecking order. Sometimes its not a good idea to just have two roosters together. So, you might want to put in a third rooster if they are constantly fighting.

Thank you! If it happens that I need to get a third one will it need to be a rooster also? I feel like two roosters and one hen would be bad news for the hen but with my luck so far in this chicken adventure if I go in asking for a rooster I will get a hen lol

Yes, it would need to be a rooster.

 

[MidMaineChick]

I keep my rooster flock mainly because my chickens are pets, but I also believe roosters deserve to live, just like old hens that don't lay anymore. If your hen stops laying, do you send her to her death? IMO it's not a rooster's fault he was born male.

Other people might keep a rooster flock for breeding purposes or replacement roosters. IMO roosters are very entertaining and nice to have around.

Extra roosters can also be good if you're hatching chicks, so you can have a boarder gene pool instead of all the chicks having the same father.

And ALL chickens make great compost for the garden!

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

Yes, definitely EE. Ameraucana only come in 8 colors and all solid. They also only lay blue eggs, not green.

http://ameraucanabreedersclub.org/standard.html

Unfortunately most hatcheries and feed stores mislabel EEs as ameraucana or auracana. I guess maybe they think it sells better? I don't know.

Meyer Hatchery is one of the only ones I know that sells Easter Eggers as Easter Eggers and Ameraucana as Ameraucana.

https://www.meyerhatchery.com/productinfo.a5w?prodID=AMAS

Cackle Hatchery does as well (I got some of each this spring)

 

[ShrekDawg]

Cackle Hatchery does as well (I got some of each this spring)

That's good to know, thanks

Do you like Cackle?

 

[TheCochinMomma]

Anybody know what kind of rooster this could be? It's hard to tell here but he's red and blue

 

[rainee63]

My story : 4 out of 6 of my spring tractor supply buff orpington chicks are roosters. They're now grown up and crowing and doing rooster stuff. My plan was to sell or rehome them but it's not happening. And truth be told, I haven't tried extra hard. But now there's this demon! His name was Col. Sanders but here lately I've been calling him Stew. 1 day he's on video talking to me and letting me pet him, 3 days later he's on the attack and drawing blood on that same petting hand. I wouldn't mind keeping my roos. I could rearrange and create them their own space, but now I guess I'm afraid they're all gonna turn on me like he has. He escapes the pen daily, but I don't even return him to the flock anymore. He is only nice to one of the hens. He pulls beakfuls of feathers out of his brothers. So, my question, and apologies for straying off topic... he's not gonna be a good candidate for a rooster flock, is he? I wouldn't mind creating space for my other 3. But this guy... would you even try to put him into a pen with other roosters? He kinda does well as the rogue roamer right now. Guess I'm trying to figure out how to get everybody situated. Before I gather up more recipes for 'Stew.'

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

My story : 4 out of 6 of my spring tractor supply buff orpington chicks are roosters. They're now grown up and crowing and doing rooster stuff. My plan was to sell or rehome them but it's not happening. And truth be told, I haven't tried extra hard. But now there's this demon! His name was Col. Sanders but here lately I've been calling him Stew. 1 day he's on video talking to me and letting me pet him, 3 days later he's on the attack and drawing blood on that same petting hand. I wouldn't mind keeping my roos. I could rearrange and create them their own space, but now I guess I'm afraid they're all gonna turn on me like he has. He escapes the pen daily, but I don't even return him to the flock anymore. He is only nice to one of the hens. He pulls beakfuls of feathers out of his brothers. So, my question, and apologies for straying off topic... he's not gonna be a good candidate for a rooster flock, is he? I wouldn't mind creating space for my other 3. But this guy... would you even try to put him into a pen with other roosters? He kinda does well as the rogue roamer right now. Guess I'm trying to figure out how to get everybody situated. Before I gather up more recipes for 'Stew.'

Roosters can be very vicious to each other when there's not enough hens, and they do fight less when there isn't hens around. Put him in a rooster flock for a day or two and see if he calms down.

 

[Abriana]

RoostersAreAwsome can you tell us how you integrated your cockerels to your roosters' pad?. Since I have been interested in having a "bachelors pad" for a while, I have been researching about it. What I have read is that it is hard to integrate roosters but it makes sense adding them when they are young. I would guess that a lot has to do with their personalities, if the alpha is very aggressive, that makes it almost quite impossible to add more.

View attachment 603233

These were my 2 roosters, they lived together for more than a year, they had fights every now and then but nothing serious. I still have the one in the back, he is with 16 hens and he is a happy rooster.

Can your roosters see the hens? My plan is to keep them in their own coop, run and yard but there is a fence that joins the yard where the hens are, I plan to cover that fence with a dark tarp so the roosters cannot see them but they will be able to hear them, I wonder if that will influence their behavior.

It's not a good idea to let roosters see the hens because then they will want to be with them, and as their frusteration grows, they can become aggressive.

 

[Molnut]

Got a few surprise boys myself. Tried to rehome them without luck.
In your opinion, what is a good ratio rooster/hens? They are Anconas and Cuckoo Marans.
I have an eggs business and my main concern is to spare the hens from stress which would affect their laying.
4 out of 5 are roos now back with the main flock. The 5th one a young Cuckoo Maran is mending a hurt leg and is away from the flock.
So far we have lively mornings with mostly the roos chasing each othets, no fight that I can see, but the Maran didn't hust his leg slipping on a banana peel!
Thanks

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Got a few surprise boys myself. Tried to rehome them without luck.
In your opinion, what is a good ratio rooster/hens? They are Anconas and Cuckoo Marans.
I have an eggs business and my main concern is to spare the hens from stress which would affect their laying.
4 out of 5 are roos now back with the main flock. The 5th one a young Cuckoo Maran is mending a hurt leg and is away from the flock.
So far we have lively mornings with mostly the roos chasing each othets, no fight that I can see, but the Maran didn't hust his leg slipping on a banana peel!
Thanks

It really depends on the age and personality of the rooster(s). I think that a lot of people say 8-12 hens per roo, but I've kept 3 roos with 5 hens before without any problems (they were bantams, though).