Roosters together?

[jhook1997]

Our current situation is that we have two separate flocks in two separate coops with two huge separate runs. The first bunch were raised and it was several months later before we got the others. The first flock were all raised together and there is one roo. They will not let other hens join them without worrying them to death so when we got the others, we just built another coop. The new ones have an adult EE Roo who's very laid back. The original roo is also pretty mellow. I have been alternating allowing each flock to free range. My question is regarding the roosters.....can I let them all out at the same time? Will the roosters fight? Will one end up dead? I love both flocks and during the winter I hate for them not to get out in the yard and which ever flock has to stay in pouts all day! Seriously, if they are still in and we are working outside, they will not be quiet and follow the edge of their fenced run and "fuss" at us. So, someone tell me if you have experience putting more thatn one roo together. Thanks.

 

[J's Orpingtons]

Hi,
I had 3 cocks in one flock but they just started to fight so they had to go.... You can keep young cocks together until you take one out and then you can't put that one back in again. For e.g I hatch 20 eggs, 10 of them are Pullets and the others are all young cocks if you take 1 cock out you cant put that one back in again because It will fight with the others. So, to be safe I would not. Hope I helped you

J

 

[Ridgerunner]

My question is regarding the roosters.....can I let them all out at the same time? Will the roosters fight?

It is almost certain they will fight. One has to establish that he is dominant. The dominant rooster in a flock has certain duties. Other roosters in the flock also have certain duties. They don't know what to do in an emergency or even in their daily living if they don't know what their duties are. For example, when I open the pop door, the dominant rooster is usually the first one out to handle danger. The second in command is usually the last one out. He is protecting the ones coming out late. The other roosters are just mixed in with the hens as they come out.

Will one end up dead?

I don't know. Sometimes those fights are fights to the death. Sometimes. But often, they determine who is boss and the fight becomes a lot more chasing and running away that actual fighting. It depends more on the spirit of the individual rooster than anything else. Size is not that tremendous a factor. Bantam roosters often dominate full sized roosters. Not always, but often. The more evenly matched they are in spirit, the more likely the fight is going to be real serious. Space for the looser to run away is also important.

If it were me, I'd let them go and observe a while. As long as one does not start bleeding, let them sort it out. You'll probably find the two flocks don't hang together anyway, but yes, expect a fight or two.

 

[wood&feathers]

There are a lot of "depends" in the answer. It depends on the mood of the roosters, the number of hens they have, who knows. If your flocks are 10 + hens per roo I would definitely try it.

 

[bobbieschicks]

You don't say the ages of the two flocks or roos - age and size make a difference and those two mellow roosters may very well fight once put together. You can predict what may happen, but the only way to know for sure is to try it and see what happens.

We had 4 White Leghorn roosters hatched together and they did fine together until around week 14 when they started first chest bumping and then pulling/biting each others combs. The were trying to determine head rooster and we only had 1 pullet at the time. I thought about keeping them all but I'm glad I didn't now. They might have been able to work that out without killing each other - I'm fairly sure of that - but my poor pullet Snow White would never have survived that many roosters climbing on and off her all day.

Now my flock has an older white leghorn rooster (24 weeks) and a younger lavender orpington rooster (11 weeks) and I think it's just a matter of time before the younger one ends up stew due to his forcing his dominance. The older rooster is fine for now with his 4 older ladies and hasn't really put the younger one in his place yet, however once the younger pullets get up to POL the older rooster may not be so fine with letting the younger rooster have them. But then again they may be fine with dividing up their ladies. Also we think one of these two roosters (most likely the 11 week old) killed a younger silkie rooster (also 11 weeks old) while we were away on Christmas vacation.

All that to say you really won't know how things will go until you try - I would suggest you letting them merge outside together first while you can watch them and see what happens. You may find that each stays within their own subflock and everything goes fine. Or you might find alot of pecking and issues with the pullets and roosters because you are changing the pecking order of both sets of chickens. Remember that the coop you choose to use will be familiar and "owned" by one flock so the other flock will have to merge into it and assert their place in the flock dynamics.

Hope things work out for you - you could maybe let the ones who don't get to free range have a special treat that day?

 

[JakRat]

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you could always bring them to each other but keep the chicken wire in between them. Like have one in its run and bring the other one over. You never know till you try, but definitely have some tough gloves and long sleeves on while they do go at it... and maybe a pool cleaning net ( my mom uses that to separate).

I had three young roosters that all got along, but they were flock mates. My one rooster (a BO) is at another farm right now and lets little banty Mille Fluers pick on him. The gentleman that owns the farm has a ton of roosters and they just fight, figure it out, find their own ladies, and get over it. Chickens are mean creatures, but they work it out in the end.

If both your guys are fairly calm you will probably be better than if they were little tyrants! They will pull combs, but so long as it isnt to bad that is just something they do. Watching my little porcelain d'uccle pull my giant Barred Rocks head to the ground by pulling her comb (putting her in a submissive position) is slightly hilarious to watch because he is that small.

You also may find that the hens fight too, but they will get over it too... when they free range together they seem to fight less... it is more of an "in the coop this is my spot" kinda thing.

Keep us updated.

 

[jhook1997]

Quote:
The first roo is 37 weeks and was raised here. He has 9 hens. The EE roo and his mate came later as full grown. I'm thinking maybe close to the same age based on the hen's laying and looks. The EE has 6 hens. I already let both flocks of hens out together with only one rooster at a time. The flocks don't mix and the Roo stays with his group of girls.


Quote:
That's what I've been doing. I feel sorry for the ones who have to stay in! I'm a softie....one lot is 30'x30' and the other about 50'x50'

 

[jhook1997]

Quote:
The comb pulling worries me b/c "Roo" (the first one) has a huge single comb.

 

[aoxa]

They will fight, that's not the question, it's how bad they will fight, right?

I'm not sure. Mine do not fight at all, unless the beta rooster mates too close to the alpha rooster. One will have to submit to the other as alpha. It depends on how long your two roosters take to accomplish this treaty (for lack of a better word).

I added a cockerel at 3 months old and my 1 1/2 year old roo didn't bother him a bit. Now that he is starting to mate with the hens, the older roo will make him stop. That's about it.

What's funny is the alpha rooster is 3-4 times smaller than the younger one.

Edited to fix typo