Rooster Problem

[royal chickens]

This spring my clutch of 6 hens was killed by a weasel, so I got 6 chicks. They were supposed to all be hens, but I ended up with 2 roosters. Now, I have 4 hens (2 white rocks and 2 silver laced wyandottes), and 2 roosters (1 white rock and 1 wyandotte). The 2 roos had a big fight, so big that the wyandotte hid on the roof of the coop. That was about 2 weeks ago. I haven't seen any other signs of them fighting, but the hens are picking on one of the other hens and the wyandotte roo is picking on all the other hens. Help! How can I stop all this?



(I can't let them outside right now because theres a fox lurking around. The coop is big enough for 6 hens, but maybe the roosters are getting territorial?)

 

[dekel18042]

This spring my clutch of 6 hens was killed by a weasel, so I got 6 chicks. They were supposed to all be hens, but I ended up with 2 roosters. Now, I have 4 hens (2 white rocks and 2 silver laced wyandottes), and 2 roosters (1 white rock and 1 wyandotte). The 2 roos had a big fight, so big that the wyandotte hid on the roof of the coop. That was about 2 weeks ago. I haven't seen any other signs of them fighting, but the hens are picking on one of the other hens and the wyandotte roo is picking on all the other hens. Help! How can I stop all

This spring my clutch of 6 hens was killed by a weasel, so I got 6 chicks. They were supposed to all be hens, but I ended up with 2 roosters. Now, I have 4 hens (2 white rocks and 2 silver laced wyandottes), and 2 roosters (1 white rock and 1 wyandotte). The 2 roos had a big fight, so big that the wyandotte hid on the roof of the coop. That was about 2 weeks ago. I haven't seen any other signs of them fighting, but the hens are picking on one of the other hens and the wyandotte roo is picking on all the other hens. Help! How can I stop all this?



(I can't let them outside right now because theres a fox lurking around. The coop is big enough for 6 hens, but maybe the roosters are getting territorial?)

With only four hens do you want or need any roosters? If not, you can divest yourself of them or even put them in their own separate coop where they MIGHT get along if there were no hens there and everything would probably get back to normal.
How big is your coop? Probably too small to have six birds including two roosters penned continuously.

 

[royal chickens]

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[royal chickens]

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[royal chickens]

With only four hens do you want or need any roosters? If not, you can divest yourself of them or even put them in their own separate coop where they MIGHT get along if there were no hens there and everything would probably get back to normal.
How big is your coop? Probably too small to have six birds including two roosters penned continuously.

The coop is about 25sq. feet. And I have 6 birds including the roos

 

[dekel18042]

The coop is about 25sq. feet. And I have 6 birds including the roos

Unless the chickens have a run, that coop is big enough for only 2.5 birds. If you can add a run you may be able to keep the hens in it. Rule of thumb is chickens need 10 square feet for living space and a minimum of four square feet for sleeping space. Add some roosters or cockerels in that mix and there will be a problem.

 

[lazy gardener]

Agreed with Dekel. Your birds are overcrowded. Too much roo. I would get rid of both roos, and either add a secure run, or get rid of at least one of the hens as well. You might be ok with 3 birds in that space, but... the smaller the flock, the more space per bird they require.

 

[Folly's place]

x3! Too many cockerels, too little space anyway. Mary

 

[Mrs. K]

Thing is, a lot of people wind up in your situation, especially when they start out with chicks. Chicks are tiny, and don't take much space. However, as they grow, the coop space does not change, and those birds that have grown up together are now crowded.

I am sure that you were hopeful that we would have a magic trick to do, to make them all get along. And we do, but it not what you want to hear, it is space. When your flock is all upset and fighting, that is a huge amount of stress. I don't know if you have ever been camping and had a bunch of people in a very tight area for a long period of time, due to rain. But people get crabby and so do chickens when they can't get away from each other. Chickens get mean and develop horrible habits. Sometimes those habits are hard to break.

You either need a great deal MORE space, or a great deal LESS chickens. And really nothing else will work, and you might wind up with a bird dead if you don't do something fairly soon. Chickens have been known to kill each other.

I would try culling the roosters first, ASAP... then maybe, but if there is still strife, then another hen. Even if you have plans to build bigger later on, you should cull now, and then add when the building is done.

Mrs K

 

[royal chickens]

UPDATE! I went out and measured my coop, because I was positive I had enough space (my last clutch was fine in the same coop) and it happens that i got the number wayyyy wrong. My coop is 75.5sqft, not 25. Oops!