Rough rooster

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You know that when you let him out, he'll probably be more "vigorous" at first, right? He'll have been separated, hormones working, and need that release. Do you really need a rooster? Are you planning on breeding? If not, I would suggest a hens only flock for you. Then you won't have to worry about the wear and tear on your hens from an over active cockerel. I think he'll likely settle down as he gets older, but it's your choice entirely. I have never separated an active cockerel from my flock. I guess it just never occurred to me to do so. But my chickens have always free ranged, so maybe the hens have had a chance to get away from the cockerels as they were going through that hormonal stage.

Mine free range too, young roosters can and do outrun hens to breed them. I raise and keep quite a few roosters. I find they aren't as crazy when they are initially let out. It can take some time for them to find their confidence again. If he's running straight at hens when released he hasn't been penned long enough from my experiences and I round him back up pretty quickly.

 

[bobbi-j]

Mine free range too, young roosters can and do outrun hens to breed them. I raise and keep quite a few roosters. I find they aren't as crazy when they are initially let out. It can take some time for them to find their confidence again. If he's running straight at hens when released he hasn't been penned long enough from my experiences and I round him back up pretty quickly.

Good to know. The last time I had any number of cockerels, I put them in a grow out pen when they started harassing the hens and pullets. The ones I left with the flock seemed to behave themselves.

 

[robyn8]

My reason to have a rooster is because we have a large open top "pen" and a lot of hawks. I want him to help warn the hens. We have a smaller predator safe run but I like to let them into the bigger area. We also have hens that like to go broody so I like the convenience of fertile eggs for them. We could live without a rooster but this boy has seemed so nice up until this past week (other than the pullet missing feathers in her back) that it seemed to be working out. He honestly doesn't seem overly aggressive with them but we had a quick warm up here so I wonder if the weather has gotten to him. Maybe more space would help. I'm not opposed to free ranging. I've not done it yet because we have a few acres around the coop that is very open and lots of hawks.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Good to know. The last time I had any number of cockerels, I put them in a grow out pen when they started harassing the hens and pullets. The ones I left with the flock seemed to behave themselves.

It seems about a 50/50 chance of them behaving well enough to be left out. If they still are acting like knuckleheads by fall I tend to remove them permanently, but I have given some until 2 years of age if I'm interested in keeping them.

Most roosters aren't fully mature until their second spring as an adult. I could leave them all out, but I can't stand the screaming of harassed hens, and sometimes the older roosters don't correct them, probably because the young ones are too confident due to hormones, and bravado.

 

[aart]

You've gotten good advice from two of the best.
Hopefully that boy calms down after some 'time outs'.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst(and most delicious).
Might want to set up a 'males coop/run' if you're going to be hatching.
It sure is nice to be able to grab an unruly boy and segregate him pronto.

 

[robyn8]

A grow out pen is a great idea. So far I've been giving away the extra cockerels or we've been culling and eating them. We've only had 2 batches of babies though.

 

[bobbi-j]

My grow out pen is so we can grow them big enough to eat and give the hens and pullets some peace. We eat all our extra cockerels and spent hens. (I actuality hope for a majority of cockerels when we hatch our own. I also buy straight run chicks for that reason.)

 

[robyn8]

We've been able to leave our growing out cockerels with the rest of the flock so far till we were ready to cull them but now that our numbers are bigger I'm thinking we should add a grow out space. I'd like to do meat birds in a year or two so maybe it could be used for either purpose (not at the same time).

 

[robyn8]

Spent some time pondering the good advice I got here and thinking about my situation and observing th flock. The cockerel doesn't seem super overboard with the breeding. Mostly I see him trying in the am and the girls smsi try to get away in the am but later in the day they submit. I passively have him another chance and didn't separate him. Just now I went out the coop and the girl with the broken wing feathers has more broken feathers now and more bleeding. I decided someone needs to be separated so she can heal and since no one is bothering her wound other than the boy, I decided he needs to be separated till she heals. I'll try letting him out at that point and see if we have anymore injuries. He's in a 4ft dog kennel in the coop. Interestingly most of the girls seem to want to be in the coop now with him. Should I do anything about the injured wing feather? The bleeding has stopped and no one is pecking her but there are quite a few broken feathers. I'm apt to leave it alone unless there's a sign of infection or anyone pecking her.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I tend to leave things alone to heal unless they are bleeding. You can pluck broken or bleeding feathers to stop it.

Hens will often hang out by the rooster, they quickly come to rely on him to be a look out.