Roosters being mean to hens

[chick mansion]

How many females do you have? How old are all the birds in question? How much space do they have?

I have 6 hens, they are 4 months old, and they have 500 sq. ft. (That is including the indoor pen)

 

[chick mansion]

@keesmom has posed some very important questions.
You mention separating involves a small space... are you open to building a suitable bachelor quarters? How badly do you want to keep all of the birds?

I really want to keep all of the birds if possible...

 

[chick mansion]

Sorry, i vote some tasty soup. Not into abuse.

Yes.. I hate our hens being abused, but I really don't want to kill the roosters as well.

 

[keesmom]

I really want to keep all of the birds if possible...

Then you need a separate bachelor pad for the males. Four males for only 6 females is too much.

 

[chick mansion]

Thank you to everyone for the help. But I still don't really understand if it is ok to separate the roosters individually in separate pens for about an hour or two at a time, let that one out, then put a different chicken in. This leaves it with only 3 roosters vs. 6 hens... I am also getting another small pen soon meaning that I can separate 2 at a time leaving it with 2 roosters and 6 hens. Is 2 roosters still too many? I also forgot to mention that one rooster is a bantam, So that would only be one bantam and one normal rooster...

 

[chick mansion]

And also, is it ok that the separate pen is still inside the large pen, (meaning that they can see each other, but they can't touch each other).

 

[chick mansion]

@keesmom has posed some very important questions.
You mention separating involves a small space... are you open to building a suitable bachelor quarters? How badly do you want to keep all of the birds?

So all 4 of the roosters can be together in one nice sized pen?

 

[lazy gardener]

Quote: Thank you to everyone for the help. But I still don't really understand if it is ok to separate the roosters individually in separate pens for about an hour or two at a time, let that one out, then put a different chicken in. This leaves it with only 3 roosters vs. 6 hens... I am also getting another small pen soon meaning that I can separate 2 at a time leaving it with 2 roosters and 6 hens. Is 2 roosters still too many? I also forgot to mention that one rooster is a bantam, So that would only be one bantam and one normal rooster...

No, that is not ok. Each of your roosters is a breeding machine. My roo is about 4 years old, and I've watched him mount a different hen about every 10 minutes. You have 4 roosters. That translates to a breeding every 2 - 3 minutes. Keep a roo penned up, and the minute he gets out, he's going to be working very hard to make up for lost time. And he knows that he has 3 others competing with him for first dibs on the gene pool, so he's going to be even more fervent in his breeding efforts. IMO, you can either build a bachelor pen, and keep them all penned up, while allowing only THE ONE roo who is most gentle with pullets and people to have occasional breeding rights. Or if you're not willing to do that, then you should do what's most humane for your pullets: get rid of at least 3 of your males.

 

[lazy gardener]

And also, is it ok that the separate pen is still inside the large pen, (meaning that they can see each other, but they can't touch each other).

Yes, you could put the roos inside the existing run, in their own private coop/run set up. But, this is the key: Will you be able to do so while ensuring that your pullets/hens each have 4 s.f./bird in the coop and 10 s.f./bird in the run AFTER you have deducted the 4 s.f. in coop and 10 s.f. in run from your run space that you are subtracting to give the roos adequate separate space?

Simply subtracting space from the hens/pullets will create a new problem of aggression and blood shed if you don't allow enough space there. And if you don't allow enough space in coop/run for your males, they will beat each other to death. They may do so, even if they have plenty of room.

Also, are you and your neighbors prepared for the non stop month after month, and year after year crowing contests that will ensue? Roos start crowing an hour before sunrise, and often crow frequently during the day.

 

[chick mansion]

Yes, you could put the roos inside the existing run, in their own private coop/run set up. But, this is the key: Will you be able to do so while ensuring that your pullets/hens each have 4 s.f./bird in the coop and 10 s.f./bird in the run AFTER you have deducted the 4 s.f. in coop and 10 s.f. in run from your run space that you are subtracting to give the roos adequate separate space?

Simply subtracting space from the hens/pullets will create a new problem of aggression and blood shed if you don't allow enough space there. And if you don't allow enough space in coop/run for your males, they will beat each other to death. They may do so, even if they have plenty of room.

Also, are you and your neighbors prepared for the non stop month after month, and year after year crowing contests that will ensue? Roos start crowing an hour before sunrise, and often crow frequently during the day.

Ok, so what I have done is TEMPORARILY separated one Roo into a 4 ft by 6ft pen, one into a 12 ft by 12 ft pen, that leaves me with two roosters with the hens. Keep in mind that one rooster is a bantee. I have a spot that the bantam can go in if need be. I think what I am going to do is section off one half of the run for the roos, and another half for the hens. But is what I have now good just for temporary purposes?

EDIT: I now put all of the roosters separate from the hens in temporary pens. So now my question is that if I fence off about 100 sq ft in my 400 sq ft pen, and put the roos in the 100 sq ft pen, will that work?