Rooster Only Flock

[No Coop No Problem]

First, I would like to ask if it is ethical for the hatching industry to kill 2 million baby boy chicks a DAY, by throwing the into a grinder alive - just because they are boys. This is not hyperbole - it is a fact.

From what I've seen factory farming is universally evil

Specific to your post - any chicken, male or female for most on this site are kept "captive".

Correct

I will tell you that my rooster that is with his hens in his flock is no happier than my roosters that are in their rooster only flock.

And yet every rooster in your bachelor flock would fight to the death to take his place

 

[triciayoung]

From what I've seen factory farming is universally evil

Correct

And yet every rooster in your bachelor flock would fight to the death to take his place

While I respect your point of view. I think you are comparing apples-to-oranges. I know they would rather touch beaks with their ladies through the fence and get their special attention instead of being killed.

 

[CloneFly]

I have an batchelor pad of 3 roos- 2 of which are 'brothers'. They're within sight of the henhouse and have never fought over the ladies. I did have an issue with the two brothers, Jude & Thaddeus fighting at one point, but nothing serious and it quickly passed. Jude was merely asserting his position as top of the flock and Thaddeus had the brains not to challenge him.. I do let my boys out to free range with the girls occasionally, but past a couple wing drops and some swift rejections by the ladies, there hasn't been much action. My roosters are afraid of the girls
I have had an issue with my tiny amererucan roo trying to challenge the brothers, but the worst that resulted from those altercations was a bleeding toenail that we got fixed up fairly easily. I also have a couple quail batchelor pads and they don't seem to suffer from the lack of girls (Maybe I just have really scary ladies??)

As @WoDia said, its very doable and you're not doing anything wrong. Each bird is different and they're boys, they're bound to have their scuffles. Just be prepared to clean them up and help them get "back into the game". A timeout cage is also a fantastic idea. Also, an additional perch and feeders can help keep the peace

 

[azygous]

First, a disclaimer that I have not read beyond the first page of this thread. So I won't know if I am duplicating any suggestions.

Next, I do have lots of experience keeping multiple roosters, and have come to notice the younger ones seem to have more of a penchant for testing rank. Currently, I have two aging roosters, seven and eight years old. When they were young, the squabbles were much more frequent than they are now. And since the younger one challenged the rank of the older one two summers ago, reversing the roles, there have been no more fights. But they had a built in rank from the beginning as the younger one was introduced to the older one as a young chick. Cockerels of the same age will not have this built in governor.

My guess at what's going on with your two young boys is they each are vying for the role of head roo in view of having neutralized the older rooster. Sometimes it takes time for them to agree on which role they will each assume. And springtime hormones do play an important role. I would try to be patient and let them try to work this out between them. Yes, it will likely result in some injuries. Keep a close eye on them.

Years ago when I first joined BYC, there was a young man here who lived in Olympia WA and ran a rooster rescue in a homeless encampment. He had his own tent and another tent for about twenty roosters. He was also a chicken psychologist, and wrote extensively on rooster behavior. I learned a lot from him. His writings are probably still out there.

Having upwards of two dozen roosters in close quarters required that the roosters learn to get along. He was an expert at training and disciplining them. Most of them responded quickly and got with the program just fine. But occasionally, someone would bring him a rooster to join his flock that felt compelled to pick fights with another roo. When all else failed to convince the two birds to make peace, he would install them in a crate together. Not a large crate, but one where they were forced to be in constant contact with each other.

You would think that this would be a recipe for disaster, that it would turn into a blender of blood and feathers. But the result was just the opposite. More than learning to make peace and tolerate one another, they established a close bond due to the intense proximity. The length of time required to do this varied from a couple of days to a week. But the result was that they became inseparable.

Something similar has been reported by other members when they have a hen that requires intense one on one treatment for serious illness. This is often a hen that refused to have anything to do with their human flock keeper prior to the illness. After the intense interaction that day to day treatment requires, the hen will have bonded so completely with the human that they completely changed from then on to being the biggest fan of that human. So it must be a trait chickens have, or at least some of them.

If your boys continue to have an unresolved agreement on how they will handle their relationship, you might try crating them together and see what happens.

Here is a link to the writings of that Olympia rooster rescue guy. He's made a lot of fascinating videos, as well. http://olychickenguy.blogspot.com/

 

[EdnaAndEdith]

Wow! Such WONDERFUL feedback from everyone! I’m so surprised at all of the great responses that I have gotten.

There are too many to quote all of them here but I really appreciate all of the ideas and help!

The boys had another squabble and I put the bully, Moe, in a wire dog crate and went to the hardware store. We bought supplies to divide the barn in half and am still trying to figure out if we will be letting them cool down from spring hormone flare and heal wounds or if we will be searching for adult females to create two separate groups in the barn with alternating pasture privileges to allow free range equally.

Tomorrow after work we will be creating the wall in the barn so at least they can be safe and neither of them confined to a dog crate. There is plenty of space in the barn and attached run. It’s just a matter of figuring out which direction to go with the next step.

It is so bizarre to me that they are so close friends even right after fights. Today I supervised a little bit of time with Moe out of the crate and they seemed perfectly happy together with no tension or testing or pushing each other around. Just both happy to be back together. I did separate them again until we can get the division built tomorrow.

I just don’t feel like I can trust them unsupervised anymore. If the wounds were more superficial I wouldn’t worry as much. But they inflict a lot of damage. (BTW their spurs are dulled) I think the damage is mostly done by pecking.

Any words of wisdom or suggestions on keeping two mixed flocks together in the same building vs sticking with rooster only model? Will the boys fight through the wall/wire if they have their own girls and own “territory” space?

 

[triciayoung]

First, a disclaimer that I have not read beyond the first page of this thread. So I won't know if I am duplicating any suggestions.

Next, I do have lots of experience keeping multiple roosters, and have come to notice the younger ones seem to have more of a penchant for testing rank. Currently, I have two aging roosters, seven and eight years old. When they were young, the squabbles were much more frequent than they are now. And since the younger one challenged the rank of the older one two summers ago, reversing the roles, there have been no more fights. But they had a built in rank from the beginning as the younger one was introduced to the older one as a young chick. Cockerels of the same age will not have this built in governor.

My guess at what's going on with your two young boys is they each are vying for the role of head roo in view of having neutralized the older rooster. Sometimes it takes time for them to agree on which role they will each assume. And springtime hormones do play an important role. I would try to be patient and let them try to work this out between them. Yes, it will likely result in some injuries. Keep a close eye on them.

Years ago when I first joined BYC, there was a young man here who lived in Olympia WA and ran a rooster rescue in a homeless encampment. He had his own tent and another tent for about twenty roosters. He was also a chicken psychologist, and wrote extensively on rooster behavior. I learned a lot from him. His writings are probably still out there.

Having upwards of two dozen roosters in close quarters required that the roosters learn to get along. He was an expert at training and disciplining them. Most of them responded quickly and got with the program just fine. But occasionally, someone would bring him a rooster to join his flock that felt compelled to pick fights with another roo. When all else failed to convince the two birds to make peace, he would install them in a crate together. Not a large crate, but one where they were forced to be in constant contact with each other.

You would think that this would be a recipe for disaster, that it would turn into a blender of blood and feathers. But the result was just the opposite. More than learning to make peace and tolerate one another, they established a close bond due to the intense proximity. The length of time required to do this varied from a couple of days to a week. But the result was that they became inseparable.

Something similar has been reported by other members when they have a hen that requires intense one on one treatment for serious illness. This is often a hen that refused to have anything to do with their human flock keeper prior to the illness. After the intense interaction that day to day treatment requires, the hen will have bonded so completely with the human that they completely changed from then on to being the biggest fan of that human. So it must be a trait chickens have, or at least some of them.

If your boys continue to have an unresolved agreement on how they will handle their relationship, you might try crating them together and see what happens.

Here is a link to the writings of that Olympia rooster rescue guy. He's made a lot of fascinating videos, as well. http://olychickenguy.blogspot.com/

Awesome post. Thank you.

 

[azygous]

The answer is yes roosters will still be able to fight through a divider fence.

Early on, I found myself with two young cockerels from a batch of pullets only chicks, accidental roos, in other words. It was my first experience with two cockerels that, though brooded together, decided to be mortal enemies bent on killing each other.

I had a rooster coop specially built to house them, and I installed a mesh divider down the middle. That did not stop them from having bloody fights. One day, I opened the coop to find the divider torn down, and the two boys in the midst of a brutal quarrel. Their heads were bloody and one was missing half his tail feathers.

I reinstalled the divider with a blanket over the mesh so they couldn't see each other. That helped some, but they still fought every chance they got. It never got any better. Peace was restored finally when one of them happened to get killed by dogs owned by an irresponsible owner who happened to stop by one day.

Introducing hens into the equation is guaranteed to complicate this tense situation. Even the best behaved roosters will fight when hens are in the mix. As well behaved as my present two roosters are, the amount of time they get with the hens in the flock is greatly restricted to avoid fighting.

My suggestion to you is to spend this time right now researching and learning about the behavior of roosters before you go to all of the expense and effort at modifying the barn only to find your efforts don't have much effect on solving the problems. This site has a wealth of rooster articles and threads. The link I provided to the writings of olychickenguy will greatly enhance your knowledge without having to go through a long and arduous (and expensive) learning curve.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I’ve had experience with rooster-only flocks of many different sizes, and what I’ve seen a lot is that rooster flocks of only two roosters can result in more fights than larger flocks. This is because, if they both have a dominant personality, they’re just going to keep testing each other and will never fully settle into a hierarchy. With more roosters, who is the “top dog” doesn’t seem to matter as much, and the other roosters will often break up a fight if it goes on too long.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Human males do the same in prison. The only question I raise is whether it's ethical or not to keep animals in the equivalent of a human prison

Humans commit crimes before they're sentenced to do time in a box, with other males, away from the vision of females. This is universally understood as a punishment for commiting evil

From what I've seen factory farming is universally evil

Correct

And yet every rooster in your bachelor flock would fight to the death to take his place

Most people on this site keep female-only flocks, many of them in large runs rather than free range. Would you view that as a female prison? If so, I think it’s unfair to target rooster-only flocks in particular when you’re against same-sex flocks in general.

Once, my rooster flock and my mixed flock were let out by a family friend while I wasn’t home. When I got back, no one was dead. There was no blood bath. Things were tense, but the roosters did not fight to the death. In fact, many of them didn’t show interest in the hens. Roosters are always going to be flirtatious. That doesn’t mean they’re miserable when they don’t have a hen to flirt with. It seems that you’re anthropomorphizing; assuming that all roosters would want the same things you would personally want if you “were” a rooster. Since we can’t turn into chickens, I think it’s much better to base how they feel on how they act, rather than how we think we would act if we were them.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Most people on this site keep female-only flocks, many of them in large runs rather than free range. Would you view that as a female prison? If so, I think it’s unfair to target rooster-only flocks in particular when you’re against same-sex flocks in general.

I have post history here that you can see for yourself where I attempt to dissuade people from keeping female only flocks. That isn't the subject of this particular thread though, so it should be irrelevant

Once, my rooster flock and my mixed flock were let out by a family friend while I wasn’t home. When I got back, no one was dead. There was no blood bath. Things were tense, but the roosters did not fight to the death. In fact, many of them didn’t show interest in the hens. Roosters are always going to be flirtatious. That doesn’t mean they’re miserable when they don’t have a hen to flirt with.

Red Junglefowl are polygamous by nature and combat one another over females. Chickens overwhelming maintain this same trait, though I'm sure cowardly chickens exist, and humans can also modify behavior artificially to some extent. Socialization or lack thereof can cause dramatic behavioral changes

It seems that you’re anthropomorphizing; assuming that all roosters would want the same things you would personally want if you “were” a rooster. Since we can’t turn into chickens, I think it’s much better to base how they feel on how they act, rather than how we think we would act if we were them.

Ridiculous. I can barely handle one woman. Having any more around would be torture.
I simply feel bad for animals in unnatural environments, and an all-male coop is about as opposite nature as one can get