Roosters

[kemclaughlin]

I have a question about roosters. I have 17 pullets right now, all between 6 and 10 weeks old. My daughter's kindergarten class did a hatch and got 9 out of 10 eggs to hatch. There are two in the hatch that I can look at and immediately know are boys. I am going to take both of them and brood them because I know what I am getting, and I don't need any more pullets. At what age will it become an issue to have two roosters in the run together? I know that as chicks, it's not a problem, but what I don't know is when safety will be an issue. Right now they are about 2 weeks old. I am going to put them in a brooder until they are a little older, then I will slowly introduce them to the flock.

 

[kemclaughlin]

Just to clarify, my intention is to brood them until they are a little older, then pick which one I like the best and re-home the other one. If one is aggressive, I will butcher it and keep the other. I won't re-home an aggressive rooster.

 

[my sunwolf]

They will fight with each other from a young age, but playfully. It can turn serious as soon as their hormones kick in (3-6 months or longer). I have two right now who were raised together and get along just fine with each other as adults. With so many pullets, having two roos might be okay even into adulthood. It helps if you raise them together from babies, and then it depends on how aggressive they are as adults. Good luck!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

It will probably never be an issue that you have two roosters in the run together. They don't need to be housed separately, especially if they were brooded together. You have enough pullets to handle two roosters.

It's a myth that roosters need to be separated from each other, probably because people hear about fighting cocks. Those are specially bred, super aggressive birds. We always have multiple roosters together in the flock, and they share the hen house with the hens. They even sleep on the same perch together. In fact, when we got our current boys, we had two adult roosters together in a 3' x 8' pen for four straight weeks when they were in quarantine with no problems at all.

One rooster will be the boss of the other. There may be some scrapping each spring as they work things out, but as long as there's no blood, don't worry about it. While they're scrapping, make sure that there's plenty of room for the loser to get away. The winner will probably chase them around for a while, and then they'll settle down.

As long as they are the same size as your pullets, you don't have to introduce them to the flock slowly, either. Introducing roosters is different than introducing hens. It's a different pecking order, separate from the hens' pecking order. You can just put them in there. Older hens might try to intimidate younger roosters, but sexually mature roosters usually put them in their place quickly.

 

[kemclaughlin]

These guys are so noisy!! Is that normal for baby cockerals? I have checked their temperature, there is no draft, they have food and water, but they are so LOUD!!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

These guys are so noisy!! Is that normal for baby cockerals? I have checked their temperature, there is no draft, they have food and water, but they are so LOUD!!

LOL--they'll only get louder as they perfect their crow. You'll never sleep with the windows open again, that's for sure.

 

[kemclaughlin]

Yeah, I am not sure I can hang! These guys yell all day long!

 

[SymanSaysFarms]

We have 3 roosters in with 17 girls ages ranging from 25 weeks-3 years with 20 more chicks in the brooder to be added when they grow up. The roosters are from the same brood as the 25 weekers and everyone's been doing great together. They got several weeks to socialize through a fence and acted like mingling together was no big deal. Your roosters will be just fine together with your girls.