Rooster woes

[TJAnonymous]

He we have several roosters at once, but I'm ready to go to an alternate plan any time it's necessary. Cass and Fabio are done living together, and if you have cockerels or roosters who have attacked you, they should be the ones leaving.
I wouldn't turn Cass outside, he needs to be in a coop, or gone another way. Too many miserable night time predator experiences, at least here, to have any birds not in a safe place overnight. Daytime predators are bad enough!
Maybe one of your younger cockerels will get along better with Fabio, or maybe not. Worth trying?
Mary

If Cass had been raised to free range all the time and there was enough acreage to separate the two where they wouldn't come in contact with each other, I'd certainly entertain the idea. But that is unfortunately not the case here. I either need to rehome him (anyone in Arkansas looking for an EE rooster? ) or most likely cull him. The tricky part will be catching him. He roosts in the rafters of the coop so I can't get him down without a ladder.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I have honestly thought about making a bachelor pen. I mean, I have another juvenile rooster who is 12 weeks old AND I hatched out at least 1, maybe 2, CCLB males a little over a week ago. There's also two other EE chicks that could possibly be males. However, my DH is in the process of building me a 3rd coop right now. If I asked for another one, I think he'd serve me divorce papers instead.... Funny, but not, ya know?

I do know what you mean though.... That's part of the reason why I have hesitated culling him before now. We've had problems with hawks and foxes. I have many chickens, including these two roos, who jump the fence to free range without permission. I liked having both roos around because it was double the lookout.

Oh my gosh you sound like me lol. (yet no lol at all)
I have XL dog cages (that I got used on craigslist for $20-$40ea) I cut a roost, stuck a few screws in it and put my extra roo in when he takes too many liberties with my main guys girls, I mean, that is what starts the trouble and my main guy has every right to discipline him, he is jr. I just don't like my girls paying the price with being fought over. It is also Spring and things will settle in a few months, so their intense ruckus may pass with it. They are young right?
I actually housed the boys in the cages until I was able to build a small bachelor pad. I alternated evenings out for them, the boys would hop back in when it was time. Works pretty well for me and they did not seem to mind.
Not to steal your thunder but I had to make the choice to put one of my boys on craigslist today. Did not want to but I have to be practical. He is too nice to cull and I have had some decent luck on craigslist, mater of fact, many if not all of my boys have landed VERY well from the answered adds. Just make sure you take great photos, charge something, mention their strong points and do some vetting.
My roos end up in places I'd love to be. I mean really droll worthy places with big flocks of hens on lots of land with good people. It can be awesome.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I have honestly thought about making a bachelor pen. I mean, I have another juvenile rooster who is 12 weeks old AND I hatched out at least 1, maybe 2, CCLB males a little over a week ago. There's also two other EE chicks that could possibly be males. However, my DH is in the process of building me a 3rd coop right now. If I asked for another one, I think he'd serve me divorce papers instead.... Funny, but not, ya know?

I do know what you mean though.... That's part of the reason why I have hesitated culling him before now. We've had problems with hawks and foxes. I have many chickens, including these two roos, who jump the fence to free range without permission. I liked having both roos around because it was double the lookout.

I also loved having 2 boys watch the flock. They got along great for 8 months. In our case, beta turned on alpha at the end of January. Alpha, a Brahma, wasn't going to back down but also clearly wasn't out to kill beta unless he had to. He'd put him down, chase him off, then go back to the flock. Can't say the same for beta, an EE. He was in it to win it, no matter how many times the Brahma put him down.

When it was obvious they weren't going to stop, I separated them, cleaned each boy up, and put them in different coops to rest.

I was looking for supplies for a cone and mentally preparing for the EE cockerel to leave the world, but the more I thought about it, the more I wasn't sure. Both boys have good & bad qualities. DH said to sleep on it for 2 weeks.

It's been, ohhh, 10. Still thinking it over. Things are copacetic in the meantime. The flock was 2 different ages anyway and fine being split. Sometimes all the ladies still get together, but there's no love lost. The 2 groups currently take shifts in the yard, but we're about to expand so will split the yard for future situations like this.

As far as the future, we recently decided to add straight run Marans in May, so there will be more boys in the mix, and now I'm reserving decisions on all males until those chicks grow out. It may be a bachelor or a freezer situation. Either way, all birds will have happy lives until the moment they leave them. Solving for the flock looks different for everyone. Good luck in your decisions!

 

[Aschuchert]

Its Fabio that is the issue in my opinion, I've faced similar issues and had to re-home the beta Roo. Sometimes you can raise another roo from a chick with an alpha but it depends on the personality of both. Its your choice and if you want the breeding results from Fabio then rehoming your beta and trying again with another with his offspring may be your best bet.

 

[Aschuchert]

oh, and i tried the bachelor coop, look into how far apart they really need to be. We had no luck and kept having to separate fights, 1 death, and endless crowing that irritated the neighbors.......

 

[TJAnonymous]

Thank you to everyone who has replied. I am considering all the advice carefully...

I wrote an entire response and then accidentally deleted it all. Sigh...

I have boiled it down to 3 options -

1. Cull him. DH said he doesn't want to do it until a weekend.

2. Rehome him. Least confident about this option. I posted about this on another thread about an experience giving away kittens. Traumatizing. Never again. I would want to know and verify whomever takes him actually has poultry.

3. Build a bachelor pen. I have an old 8 x 10 dog kennel that is in rough shape and not being used. I might be able to fix it up and use it for a bachelor pen. Not sure about this but it's an idea

 

[TropicalBabies]

2. Rehome him. Least confident about this option. I posted about this on another thread about an experience giving away kittens. Traumatizing. Never again. I would want to know and verify whomever takes him actually has poultry.

If I think someone sounds or texts a little goofy I ask for photos of coop and flock, location etc. I let them know these are my babies and I want them landing well. They can call me a crazy chicken lady lol, the rest and the ones I want will want to deal with me again. Any quality person will want a quality chook raised by a quality person. You just have to hold out for a good one - hence dog cages. I have found most chicken people to be up and up. Like BYC in person.

3. Build a bachelor pen. I have an old 8 x 10 dog kennel that is in rough shape and not being used. I might be able to fix it up and use it for a bachelor pen. Not sure about this but it's an idea

That sounds awesome!!!!!!!!