roosters

[sagicraw]

In reading it says separate your cockrels from the pullets when they are 8 weeks old. When do you reintroduce the grown roosters to the flock? Can you have more than one rooster or do you cull any extra ones so you only have one?

 

[one old chick]

hi was wondering what the reason they gave was to have to separate them from the pullets? i have heard of separating roosters as i had free range chickens in the past and have had more than one rooster however sometimes they will get along and other times they fight. i had a real nasty one beat the blood out of my top rooster (i assume to move up in pecking order). he was just the meanest rooster. needless to say he wasn't around long.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Where were you reading that? What was the context?

We keep chickens in different circumstances, for different goals, with different flock make-ups, and with many other differences so there is very seldom any one thing that covers all of us.

I never separate my cockerels from the pullets. I find if the cockerels grow up in the flock the potential for violence goes way down. If you separate them and later add more mature roosters to a flock that already has a rooster, you are practically guaranteed it will get pretty violent.

 

[ldelahanty]

I would also like to know. I my chicks will be 8 weeks old on Monday and I am not really certain if one is a cockerel, but I have an idea that one could be.

 

[sagicraw]

read it in storey's guide to raising chickens p 238 They said : "at 8weeks pecking will get serious and sexual activity will start. If you haven't already done so, it's time to separate the cockrels from the pullets. Select the best cockeels for breeding and cull or butcher the rest."
I would love not to have to separate them and it makes a lot of sense what you said about growing up together.

 

[BGMatt]

Occassionally the cockerels can pick on the pullets and impede their access to food and such which slows their development is the reason they recommend it. I know many experienced and successful poultrymen that swear its vitally important...however I know just as many that think its no big deal to raise them together.

 

[sagicraw]

appreciate all the helpfull input. They are a week old now and it's hard to tell what they will be like in 7 more weeks.

 

[one old chick]

Where were you reading that? What was the context?

We keep chickens in different circumstances, for different goals, with different flock make-ups, and with many other differences so there is very seldom any one thing that covers all of us.

I never separate my cockerels from the pullets. I find if the cockerels grow up in the flock the potential for violence goes way down. If you separate them and later add more mature roosters to a flock that already has a rooster, you are practically guaranteed it will get pretty violent.

yes, i agree completly. i have one rooster (hopefully) and i intend to leave him with the pullets always. he is the same age as they are. i had the same thinking that he would bond to them now and take care of them in the future. he is so funny, he's two weeks old and already he flies up on top of the feed container and roosts there watching the other down below. i had to put a net over the feed container because i was afraid he would fall in LOL.

 

[chooks4life]

I've always kept all chooks together, even when the flock was up to over 100 birds... At least half were cockerels, but never a fight. I think it's important to raise them together so, like Ridgerunner says, the potential for violence goes way down. Makes knowing the parents difficult though so I would just temporarily separate the chosen breeders. In my experience, roosters and hens generally like having a choice of partners, and a solo rooster is a more tense bird.

I think hens should always be given a choice of rooster, otherwise you might be forcing the breeding of a male they know is unworthy, just because there's no other options. Obviously not an option with pure-breeders, but I do mixes and am working on my own strain. I've tried in vain for years to get my best hens to view what I thought of as the best roosters in a romantic light, but they'd choose boys I didn't think so good, and produce great offspring. When I managed to breed them with what I thought were the better boys, the truth came out... Crap genes. They just KNEW. They'd flock around the dominant boys when it was time for food, mate with them when an egg was in the way, but when fertile they'd lag behind, and when he went around a corner or out of sight, they'd actually run, to slip off into the bushes to mate with the rooster of their choice. They knew when to mate to avoid 'pregnancy' and when to mate to get 'pregnant' --- bizarre!

I do believe in the lovechild theory, because it seems to be true. A rooster and hen who choose eachother above all others seem to breed the best offspring of all.