Rooster spacing, flock division

[Ridgerunner]

My question is, would getting an older roo and putting him with the older flock be wise or a recipe for disaster?

I personally like raising my chicks, male and female, with a flock that has adult hens and a mature rooster in it. I think it mellows out the maturing process some, though it can still get pretty wild. To me the big advantage is that the mature rooster goes a long way in reducing how much the cockerels bother the mature hens. Mine don't interfere that much with the behaviors of the cockerels with the pullets their age.

I've raised chicks by themselves, not adults at all. When they matured the hens and rooster knew what to do by instinct. I've raised chicks with mature hens and no mature rooster. When the boys start feeling the hormones there is occasionally some conflict between the head hen and a cockerel but usually not a lot. All the hens don't beat the crap out of a cockerel when he start feeling frisky. If they don't want to mate they usually run away. That's where the dominant hen is more likely to interfere.

Having raised them those three ways, I think the advantage in having mature chickens in the flock is over-rated. There can be some benefits like the mature hens will show the pullets where to lay eggs (and sometime they pay attention) but I don't find any real differences in behaviors of the adults regardless of which way they are raised.

I don't know how much room you have. I find the more room they have at any age and in any mix of age and sex the fewer behavioral problems you have and the less severe they are likely to be.

Personally I would not bring in an older rooster now or later for bio-security reasons. I prefer to raise my own from eggs I hatch or with chicks from a hatchery.

If you bring in an older rooster eventually the cockerels will mature to the point there will probably be some conflict with a mature rooster. It may be a fight to the death, it may not. You can have the same issues with more than one cockerel.

Unless you really want that mature rooster as your flock master I just don't see any advantages in bringing in an adult rooster, whether you bring in older hens with him or not. I also don't see any advantage to waiting a few years. I just don't see any real difference in the behaviors. You can have issues either way, you can have a real smooth process either way.

 

[slippednfell]

I personally like raising my chicks, male and female, with a flock that has adult hens and a mature rooster in it. I think it mellows out the maturing process some, though it can still get pretty wild. To me the big advantage is that the mature rooster goes a long way in reducing how much the cockerels bother the mature hens. Mine don't interfere that much with the behaviors of the cockerels with the pullets their age.

I've raised chicks by themselves, not adults at all. When they matured the hens and rooster knew what to do by instinct. I've raised chicks with mature hens and no mature rooster. When the boys start feeling the hormones there is occasionally some conflict between the head hen and a cockerel but usually not a lot. All the hens don't beat the crap out of a cockerel when he start feeling frisky. If they don't want to mate they usually run away. That's where the dominant hen is more likely to interfere.

Having raised them those three ways, I think the advantage in having mature chickens in the flock is over-rated. There can be some benefits like the mature hens will show the pullets where to lay eggs (and sometime they pay attention) but I don't find any real differences in behaviors of the adults regardless of which way they are raised.

I don't know how much room you have. I find the more room they have at any age and in any mix of age and sex the fewer behavioral problems you have and the less severe they are likely to be.

Personally I would not bring in an older rooster now or later for bio-security reasons. I prefer to raise my own from eggs I hatch or with chicks from a hatchery.

If you bring in an older rooster eventually the cockerels will mature to the point there will probably be some conflict with a mature rooster. It may be a fight to the death, it may not. You can have the same issues with more than one cockerel.

Unless you really want that mature rooster as your flock master I just don't see any advantages in bringing in an adult rooster, whether you bring in older hens with him or not. I also don't see any advantage to waiting a few years. I just don't see any real difference in the behaviors. You can have issues either way, you can have a real smooth process either way.

Thank you for sharing your experiences! I have 55 acres but the coop is 8x10 and the run is about 250 sq feet. We were planning on building a smaller coop for the cockerels but now, that will be a bit down the road. (Next year maybe.)

 

[EggWalrus]

How are these birds 'kept'... housing-wise?

About half sleep in the rafters of a 10' × 20' coop/egg house open on 3 sides. (Sorta like a pole barn with chicken wire. ) The rest sleep in an old cedar, an oak, and some pine trees.
During hurricane Micheal, you would have thought they would have all gotten in the coop where it was dry, but you couldn't pry them out of the trees.

 

[Mrs. K]

I seldom disagree with Ridgerunner, a very knowledgeable chicken raiser. So much so, that I hesitate to point out where we digress. So take this if you want, and if you don't and agree with Ridgerunner, you are probably right.

I do think that there are two areas of note in adding a mature rooster to a an established laying flock (which is off the point of the op).

• To improve genetics quickly of new offspring, putting in a rooster that is high in the traits you would like to add to your flock, quickly does that. Over time of ongoing in- house breeding, poor traits seem to concentrate, and better traits seem to fade away.
• A mature rooster will become a flock master much quicker than chicks being hatched and raised up. In Ridgerunner's case having an established flock for years, and always having roosters of various ages, to replace a flock master rooster is really a non-issue. But in the beginning, not always do you have that wide choice.

However, the bio-security is a valid issue.

Mrs K

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

I have 3 roosters that are all Rhode Island Reds. Only 2 roosters have an established flock as the 3rd rooster came with the 2nd and they kinda follow each other around and he has no say. They all free range and I have had no issues. Every rooster is different so I would just monitor the level of aggression incase they meet. I have only 1 rooster that is the rooster. I saw my aggressive rooster (Lee Roy Brown) attack roo #2 once, he ran from the weeds and grabbed the 2nd in charge rooster under the neck with his feet sending roo #2 doing a backflip in the air and running away as soon as his feet were back on the ground. No issues since as Lee Roy has shown dominance to roo #2 and #3.

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

Also my spacing with these 3 roos is this:
Lee Roy Brown in the coop with his ladies and the other 2 in the pole barn with their ladies. Its about 20 ft from the back barn door to the coop. It depends on if your roos grew up together, their aggression, spacing and Roo:Hen ratio. I free range so they have plenty of room to run from each other and now more for the roosters to focus on. Instead of being in a smaller area and coop, the roosters are aware of the horse, the dogs, me approaching, wild animals, etc. I find my roosters are calmer with the extra stimulation.

 

[Trevorusn]

I have 10, hopefully still, in my flock. My BJG cockerel is older than my Faverolles cockerel, so the BJG is the clear alpha. So far there has been no scuffles or fighting, though they do have a fairly decent run space. I was free ranging but one of my pullets has mysteriously disappeared, so they stay in the fenced run for now. Even confined, the two cockerels don't fight as there is a clear head of the flock, and they all sleep in the same coop rather peacefully together. I introduced the BJG during free range time, that seemed to help smooth out the transition. Plus, Faverolles seem to have a tendency towards placidity, which also helps. Just keep in mind while free ranging, the tradeoff in space is the ease of hiding places to wander off in.

 

[NHMountainMan]

Try having them all together, and be ready with Plan B at a moment's notice!
Things might be fine, and they might not. If either, or both, develop any human aggression issues, that's a cull point. If anyone is causing injuries to any pullets, also not good. Having cockerels and pullets all the same age is harder, because there aren't any adults to manage them.
Having one flock, and only separating breeding groups when purebred eggs are wanted for hatching, is easier, especially with a new flock.
Mary

Thank you Mary. I'm leaning towards following your advice. Basically - giving it a shot while being prepared to implement a plan b (separating just the cockerels raised together to a separate coop) and a plan c (culling any human aggressive Roo) and a plan d - (separate flocks each with a Roo).I'm hoping that given enough space and hiding /coverage spots, it'll sort itself out)
Thx as always

 

[NHMountainMan]

it probably won't work as you envision it now.

Mrs K[/QUOTE]

If there's a takeaway from this thread it's that a cockerel is "predictably unpredictable" as a hormonal teenage boy.

And that nothing will go as I plan it to!
Thx Mrs K.

 

[NHMountainMan]

I keep 2 pens - one for girls, one for boys. The boys are happier without girls to fight over. Each group free ranges separately, although they can see each other through a fence. Sometimes when a girl gets close to the boys pen, one will try dancing at her but since they haven't claimed anybody, I don't see serious fighting. The four boys grew up together.

Had to laugh at this! Sounds like my memories of the all boys and all girls high school. Everything goes smoothly until you have the mixer dances. Then the boys are throwing punches over the girls that have rolled the top of the skirts so that their knees can show.