Rooster Flocks!

[InfpChick]

A raccoon can rip through hardware cloth? Thanks for all the info. Yeah weasels worry me. What protections do you guys have in place?

 

[jjohnson1191]

I once bought a Brahma rooster from a yard sale for $5. He lived with 24 other light Brahmas, all identical to him...only the rooster I bought had a fallen over comb. They all got along great from what I understand. They never got the chance to see hens ever. The flock owner just ordered male chicks to raise for meat I suppose.

That rooster was awfully docile, the best one I ever had the pleasure of raising. D'awww that brought back cute memories for me

Do you have any dark brahma rooster for sale

 

[Abriana]

A raccoon can rip through hardware cloth? Thanks for all the info. Yeah weasels worry me. What protections do you guys have in place?

No, they CAN rip thru chicken wire they CAN'T rip thru hardware cloth

 

[KeliD]

Well, I've created my roo pen and separated two of the Roos from the rest of the flock leaving one rooster with the 4 hens. After a day we discovered the source of all the trouble in the main flock was one rooster named Compass. He chased the other rooster, Norman, up into the rafters and attacked him any time he came down not allowing him to eat or drink. We decided for Norman's health to put him back in with the rest of the flock. He is doing fine with there for now and Compass is isolated because he's mean as a snake. We are trying to decide what to do with Compass. The chickens are all about 15 weeks old and I know I'm eventually gonna have to remove one of the roosters from the hens.

My hubby is willing to shoot Compass but says eating him is out of the question. The rooster that has remained in with the hens is a Rhode Island Red named Gus. He's very sweet and mild mannered. Compass is especially mean to him, we thought Norman could hold his own against Compass but obviously not.

Any suggestions?

**Edited by Staff**

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Well, I've created my roo pen and separated two of the Roos from the rest of the flock leaving one rooster with the 4 hens. After a day we discovered the source of all the trouble in the main flock was one rooster named Compass. He chased the other rooster, Norman, up into the rafters and attacked him any time he came down not allowing him to eat or drink. We decided for Norman's health to put him back in with the rest of the flock. He is doing fine with there for now and Compass is isolated because he's mean as a snake. We are trying to decide what to do with Compass. The chickens are all about 15 weeks old and I know I'm eventually gonna have to remove one of the roosters from the hens.

My hubby is willing to shoot Compass but says eating him is out of the question. The rooster that has remained in with the hens is a Rhode Island Red named Gus. He's very sweet and mild mannered. (My hubby says he's a homo cuz he tries to blend in with the hens - they encircle him and guard him against the other roosters.) Compass is especially mean to him, we thought Norman could hold his own against Compass but obviously not.

Any suggestions?

You could put Compass with the hens and Norman and Gus in a rooster flock.

 

[Finge]

I adore roosters, they are sooo beautiful and are hilarious at entertaining me when i'm not feeling well. I have 11 chicks, all were suppose to be pullets, they threw in atleast 2, but 3 died and I didn't remember to ask for pullet replacements, but I believe I only have 2 roos, and i'm enjoying their antics.

While watching these two punks, I'm starting to think all the roosters I have aren't as intelligent as my hens and pullets. My chicks are starting to form their pecking order, and they dive bomb each other to prove they are top dog. They take a running start and flap at the victim, land with a sharp peck to the head and stand up tall in front of the chick they pecked, and if the chick doesn't stand up back, they lose..? Well, to start merging the chicks with my flock, I took my hen with bumble foot and placed her in their pen, my lil Wyandotte punk tried to dive bomb her, and when he got close, she sent him screeching back into the brooder coop with one peck. I felt pretty bad about laughing at it, but he asked for it, he pecked something that's atleast three times his size.

I might keep him and the other supposed cockerel, a barred rock in my backyard with my dogs, whom fear the chickens after one tried to attack my broiler chickens and got a smack to the face courtesy of me, though I have promised myself one thing, I won't tolerate an aggressive chicken, though I won't immediately cull them, and know enough of watching my two adult roosters 'fight' how to establish i'm boss, though with my current roosters, I don't think that will be a problem in the future, they're a bit more classy, lol!

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I adore roosters, they are sooo beautiful and are hilarious at entertaining me when i'm not feeling well. I have 11 chicks, all were suppose to be pullets, they threw in atleast 2, but 3 died and I didn't remember to ask for pullet replacements, but I believe I only have 2 roos, and i'm enjoying their antics.

While watching these two punks, I'm starting to think all the roosters I have aren't as intelligent as my hens and pullets. My chicks are starting to form their pecking order, and they dive bomb each other to prove they are top dog. They take a running start and flap at the victim, land with a sharp peck to the head and stand up tall in front of the chick they pecked, and if the chick doesn't stand up back, they lose..? Well, to start merging the chicks with my flock, I took my hen with bumble foot and placed her in their pen, my lil Wyandotte punk tried to dive bomb her, and when he got close, she sent him screeching back into the brooder coop with one peck. I felt pretty bad about laughing at it, but he asked for it, he pecked something that's atleast three times his size.

I might keep him and the other supposed cockerel, a barred rock in my backyard with my dogs, whom fear the chickens after one tried to attack my broiler chickens and got a smack to the face courtesy of me, though I have promised myself one thing, I won't tolerate an aggressive chicken, though I won't immediately cull them, and know enough of watching my two adult roosters 'fight' how to establish i'm boss, though with my current roosters, I don't think that will be a problem in the future, they're a bit more classy, lol!

My roosters are just as smart, if not smarter than my hens. Why do you think your roos are not as smart as your hens?

 

[CCinVT]

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 like quite rudely. So we separated them in a temp run, until i could 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.
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.

 

[PouleNoire]

@CCinVT , I separated my 3 roosters into a rooster section of my chicken facility maybe 2 months ago?? and they have been doing very well! We just got another roo (accidental) from our batch of chicks this spring and just integrated him into the roo flock as well and he's been doing great! We had to remove one of the roos...but that's another story. Anyway, our chickens have a medium sized field for their "run" so we sectioned off a part of the field for the roos and a part of our coop, which is a 10x10 shed converted into coop, for them as well. We added some roosts and cutted a hole for access to "run". In the pictures I attached, it was before we moved the roos into the area and had the chicks there which have now been put with the other girls and the roosters have moved in. i don't know the current size of our coop but if its a bigger coop you could section a part off...? Hope I helped at least a bit!
<--outside part
<--inside part; we now have some more roosts above the one low roost.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

 

[CCinVT]

@CCinVT , I separated my 3 roosters into a rooster section of my chicken facility maybe 2 months ago?? and they have been doing very well! We just got another roo (accidental) from our batch of chicks this spring and just integrated him into the roo flock as well and he's been doing great! We had to remove one of the roos...but that's another story. Anyway, our chickens have a medium sized field for their "run" so we sectioned off a part of the field for the roos and a part of our coop, which is a 10x10 shed converted into coop, for them as well. We added some roosts and cutted a hole for access to "run". In the pictures I attached, it was before we moved the roos into the area and had the chicks there which have now been put with the other girls and the roosters have moved in. i don't know the current size of our coop but if its a bigger coop you could section a part off...? Hope I helped at least a bit!
View attachment 1111555 <--outside part
View attachment 1111556<--inside part; we now have some more roosts above the one low roost.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

Yes this helps! When I was thinking about getting roosters I was sure I would be able to "thin the flock" as needed. I didn't take into consideration that I would end up with sweet boys! I think they are wonderful. The pictures do help. I think I've been overthinking it. I don't have the space to have multiple large runs, but these boys have grown up together. I know I have at least two more faverolles from a group of chicks we hatched. I have some crosses though that I can't tell if they are going to be roosters or not yet. My coop (8x8) isn't big enough right now to divide an indoor section off. Before this summer took crazy turns; an addition was on the list of plans. Now the addition is on the list for Spring to accommodate more hens. I can add run addition though pretty easily for the boys (it is covered), and am thinking i'll make a rooster coop at the end. Since they don't need nest boxes do you just give them roosting space for night time? Our yard is sloping, and very wooded so large flat runs aren't an option. We had been free ranging them. I've read that some people alternate the free range days, and I think that could work. Boys range, and girls range. I think it's cute to see them flirt through the fence.
Abe the big grey one who is with the ladies is the one who will try to peck my shoes some mornings, but the girls seem to like him best. The two faverolles who I've separated get along great, and are my favorites. I think they are more "rude" with the ladies though. Where Abe "asks" more often before just "jumping" on them.
What made you decide to keep your roosters?