rooster jail

[DCortez]

What is the smallest pen you can (would) keep a rooster in? Should I stick to the old rule of thumb of 4 sq ft for house and 10 for run? I only want the roos for breeding, not riding and terrorizing the girls.

 

[torilovessmiles]

Do you mean separating him in his own pen except for breeding times, or keeping him in your flock at all times?
A rooster shouldn't terrorize your hens. Generally he keeps them from terrorizing each other! If you get a rooster that is aggressive with your hens, I would say cull and get another. That's not a gene you want in a breeding cock!
I think 4 sqft coop space and 10sqft run space per bird is enough, but that is minimum so I would go a little bigger, considering you plan to hatch new babies

 

[DCortez]

Keep them separated until I need eggs fertilized. I might let them run around if they play nice, but want a back up plan.

Long story short, I have more roos than I want. Hatchery keeps sending the wrong one.

 

[torilovessmiles]

It is very cruel, in my honest opinion, to force a flock-oriented bird to live almost completely solitary. If you're wanting a lot of specific breeds, then it's best to make different breeding pens and put the cocks and hens of each breed in their own pens.
If you have roosters and you don't need to breed them all (i.e. multiples of the same breed, or not worried about purebreds) then you should remove extras from your flock, either by rehoming or by butchering. I really believe killing them is better than making them live a solitary life.
As I said previously, a rooster will pass on aggressive genes, so it's best not to breed birds that are rough, aggressive, or mate too forcefully.

 

[jonezjollyfarm]

We keep our roo in a 4x4x8 (hxwxl) pin with a nice house night next to the hen house/coop because he just can't play nice. He can see the girls and cluck at them but can't hurt or breed them. He seems very happy with it. We plan to build him a run about the same size as the hens so we can breed him and he has a awesome bachelor pad, but the smaller run works for the time being.

 

[DCortez]

He'd be able to look, but not touch. Heck, I'd be jailed too if I mounted everything I saw

 

[torilovessmiles]

He'd be able to look, but not touch. Heck, I'd be jailed too if I mounted everything I saw

Haha that actually doesn't bother the hens. I know it looks rough and weird, but the hens actually aren't bothered. They know their part in reproduction, and are happy to do so. Bird mating strategy may look weird to humans, but it is natural. I suppose you can separate the roosters if you keep all of the extras, but the act of mating itself does not bother your hens one little bit
My hens swoon over my rooster. Once they're over 1 year old, they generally become more experienced, a lot less clumsy, and a little more gentle. My rooster even lets the hens go if they show any resistance!
Depending on the breeds you have, it may be easy to rehome some of them as well if you have way more than you need. Believe me, more than a few roosters make a lot of noise!