Rooster storage

[Balmoral]

Hi there . Been kinda thinking what I will have to do with keeper roosters, come winter . I'll have at least 6 different breed roosters that I'll want to keep . I'm thinking of keeping them in a separate coop from the girls . Hoping they will be all friendly & not fighty . Then in spring put the choice hens & matching breed rooster together for pure breed eggs .
My question is will the roosters get along without the hens around ? Or are they going to fight anyways ?
If you can't be good be careful .

 

[Pork Pie]

I've asked the moderators to move your post (it may take a while) to a more appropriate forum. Not all members will check out the new members introductions forum, and you will have a greater opportunity for the best advice elsewhere.

realise that navigating BYC can seem a little confusing at first (it sure did for me!) but if you have a question, pull the drop down menu on "forum nav" and click on what you think is the most appropriate forum, hit "Start a new thread" and you are good to go.

Best wishes
CT

 

[drumstick diva]

I don't know if they will all get along, but, they will do better if they cannot see the hens., and if possible not hear them.

 

[headintheclouds]

I've had decent luck introducing a young cockerel into a group. Even then, I have had an older cock start a fight. I've also had cocks that were together their entire life start fighting for no obvious reason. And have lost roos to other roos. I would suggest keeping separate if at all possible. If you throw them together, you're taking your chances.

 

[centrarchid]

I have been creating bachelor groups with some persisting even through the breeding season. They scrap upon introduction and I make certain no major damage occurs from sustained fighting. I also add structure allowing subordinates to avoid attacks. Hearing and seeing hens in itself may not be the problem I assumed it to be in the past. What is a problem is when their accessibly environment changes. That can include the following; add a hen, move structure around, or allow the group free-range time especially with hens present. I can periodically free-range such groups when no hens present without much additional scrapping.

 

[MasAhora]

If you are serious you want to breed with a particular rooster, I'd separate them. I wish I had. I do not have the experience of the other posters who are better observers of behaviours, so I made a rookie mistake and just lost one of my favoured cockerels Thunder Thighs. He and his hatchmate just started getting amorous with the hens, Thunder Thighs was the top guy and matured faster, and I was thinking about separating him for being a bit too vigorous since I hadn't observed any squabbles more serious than a few chest bumps, I figured I had a few more days to finalise my coop/pen changes.
It got serious fast and I wasn't around to see - 5 months of serious effort into raising Thunder Thighs gone, plus I miss him. Once my younger cockerels are close to trying to crow or even look sideways at the girls....I'll be separating them, keeping my 2 favoured for breeding apart until my renovations are done and I can set them up with their own flock. The other bachelors will grow out together in their pad which can be divided if further separation is needed.

 

[sdm111]

Imo keep all males separate in their own pens. Always have control and you won't have any issues

 

[Ridgerunner]

Balmoral, you are dealing with living animals, each with its own personality. None of us can give you any guarantees as to what will happen but we can give you some suggestions as to how to improve your odds of not having major problems. You can still have problems, you need to monitor the situation and possibly take steps. Since you are dealing with different living animals each situation is unique.

I don’t keep “bachelor pads” for fully grown mature roosters but I sometimes do with immature cockerels whose hormones are running wild. I’ve found that even with the pullets and the rest of the flock right next to them through a wire fence, things are normally pretty calm in that bachelor pad. Others have said they have to isolate the bachelor pad from hens and pullets to stop them from fighting. I certainly believe that what works for me might not work for others.

I don’t know how you have them now. Are they all ranging together or are they now isolated from each other? If they are all interacting with each other now, I would not expect a lot of serious fighting when you lock them up. There might be some, any change like that can disrupt the pecking/dominance order, but they’ve probably already worked most of that out. When you put roosters that are strangers to each other or add or remove roosters they have to determine the new order. That can lead to more serious fighting.

How serious will that fighting be? It depends on the individual personalities but room is also critical. Some roosters will fight to the death, but often one determines he is not going to win so he tries to run away. The winner will often chase him and sometimes there are more fights, but often if the loser can run away and get away they work out an accommodation. They know who is boss and they can live together. A flock of nothing but hens can react the same way. They have to sort out the pecking order so they can live together peacefully. It’s called integration. Sometimes it’s quite peaceful, sometimes it is really rough and dangerous.

I don’t know how you have your chickens housed now. I don’t know why you want to separate the roosters from the hens. If they are living peacefully now there is a good chance they will continue to live peacefully this winter, depending some on climate which might restrict room. By trying to separate out the roosters you may be creating problems where none exist. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. But if you decide to separate out he roosters as large a bachelor pad as you can manage is probably your best bet. But have a plan B ready in case you need to isolate one or more roosters from the other bachelors.

Good luck!

 

[combatfuzzball]

From experience Roosters are going to fight. I've noticed however that free range American Game roosters will stake out a territory in a yard and will usually avoid each other. They even seem to share the same coop with only a bit of bickering.
Also I found out the hard way that if you separate Roosters from hens and have another rooster in with them whatever you do don't let one get out. Giving a roos girls to another roo will cause them to pretty much fight to the death. At least where they can see and maybe hear the other hen and roo.
I have read in Storey's GUide to chickens that there is some luck with having 3 Roosters at a time in a coop to minimize or stop fighting. The book doesn't say why this works but if true I'd put my money on the fact the Roosters are afraid if they fight the one not fighting is going to get all the ladies.

 

[Balmoral]

Thanks for all the information . The reason I want to keep them separate is , so the breeds I have stay as the separate breeds . Not a mix of 6 -8 breeds . The people I got my little incubator from let everything breed Willy nelly . They ended up with a bunch of chickens with very few eggs & small birds because of the bantam input . I'm not sure on the ages of their chickens. I am a farmer so producing eggs & meat are my main interest . Selling the odd bunch of chicks or hatching eggs 2nd . Thanks again