Rooster Question

[dixiebeast]

Is it possible for Roo's to cohabitate in a flock...I just found out my 2 BLRW hens are roo's and I want to add a RI Red roo for the 2 RI Red hens...Currently my Reds and the 2 BLRW Roo's share the same home.The are 16 and 17 weeks. I also house my adult Blue self bantam pair with my 10 week old(unsure on that age) silkie(suppose to be a pair also).Do i need to get building? I am considering giving up one of my BLRW roo's for a hen but my boys are so tight nit right now...one of them is not people social but the four of them(reds and BLRW) pile up in a cuddle heap in coop and when free ranging...sooo cute! And will I have trouble introducing an adult RI roo and hen? The guy I got my blue self pair from sells mature sets and I was hoping to get one in a couple weeks!

 

[Mrs. K]

yes, I think with maturity you are going to have trouble with that many roosters in one coop. They say that if you raise roosters together, they often will work together, but if you are adding roosters, there is going to be some severe fighting!

Perhaps I am not understanding you numbers correctly, but 1 roo for 10-15 hens is considered enough. Too many roos and your hens are going to be wore out with all the breeding.
A rooster will breed any chicken, and will fight to keep his position in the flock, and keep other roos from breeding. So if you want certain roos and hens together, you will have to have separate coops. Or, If you want to do different breeding projects, I would suggest getting different breed of roos on different years. Then only keep the eggs from the hens that match the rooster for incubating. You can collect eggs for several days before "starting them all together for a hatch" If you do it this way, it is easy to keep track of the age of your chickens too, this year all my pullets are black colored breeds, last year all EE's, the year before all redstars.

MrsK

 

[bufforp89]

You will have to have a ton of hens to keep them busy but yep they can get along...right now I think I have 6ish roos running with my flock, everyone is molting so I just let all my pens freerange together to save feed and they all get along fine, they were all raised together however.

 

[dixiebeast]

I do have my breed sizes separate( bantams and silks together) ( large breeds in another)....My reds and BLRW were all suppose to be pullets from Tractor supply...I had 3 of each but lost a red to heat and had to put down a BLRW due to injury( always a special lil peep who had bad eyesight and got stuck behind the house in run...broke neck but lived...we didnt realize the neck prob until it grew crooked and started twisting under...vet was amazed at xray and the fact we brought a chicken in)...anyways,i didnt intend to have so many roo's but I want to breed my smallers for bitties to sell and my biggers for eggs and bitties! I figure if I get a red roo and some BLRW hens ( hens first) maybe they can continue to get along if I give up one of my BLRW roo's. I will have a breeding run so I can separate for keeping breed true when I want chicks for selling...or keeping... and eating my extra BLRW roo is out of the question!I hope to maybe swap him to a breeder maybe...

 

[saladin]

Your first question was 'Is it possible for Roo's to cohabitate in a flock?' You then went on with your specifics which was answered.

The original question was not answered.

The answer is: it depends on the breed. There are breeds where multiple cocks can be kept provided there are enough hens/pulllets. With other breeds only one cock can be kept with a flock regardless of the number of hens/pullets.

 

[dixiebeast]

Thanks...I need all the input I can get!