Second Rooster Kicked Out of the Coop

[Erin Valerie]

Hi everyone! Having a little issue over here... See, we're first-time chicken owners and thought we'd won the newbie lottery and had eight of eight actual hens. Well surprise! What we actually have is two giant roosters, six hens, AND a move to another country coming up.

A few weeks ago, we found out one of our 6 month old Buff Orpingtons was a rooster. But we hoped he'd be ok with seven hens for the winter, before he got too rooster-y, and we could add a few more ladies come Spring. And then last week we found his "sister" crowing next to him. We were kind of (stupidly) hoping we could ride this out until our move (we are working on getting a chicken license to allow us to bring them; we're in Europe), but came home today after dark to find the second rooster by himself under the coop.

Luckily he's not hurt, and eating and drinking just fine, but it's pretty clear we can't keep them all together

Unfortunately we're not home enough during the day right now to free range them for long. What do we do? Separate him with a few of the hens we already have and put them in a second coop? Leave the others as they are and buy a few new hens just for this guy? Keep him indoors by himself (eek)? Find him a home? I'm worried about not having enough hens to keep everyone happy if we split them into two flocks, but am equally worried about buying new hens only to put them through a stressful move in a couple months. We do have a backup coop, so that's something. He's such a great bird and we want to do the right thing for him, so any input/ideas would be so helpful and super appreciated.

(We moved him into a larger dog kennel with more space right after I took the picture)

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Eat him. Or give him away for free and don't ask what they want him for. Likely it will be for dinner.

You've got to have a plan for cockerels. They are inevitable unless you only purchase sex linked pullets. Then ask yourself why you want to keep a cock bird? There is no reason to and again your setting yourself up for more males. Likely one of your pullets will go broody when a hen and then you'll feel "obligated" to allow her to sit then next thing you know you've hatched out a bunch of chicks of which half are males! What to do? You need a plan to get rid of extra and unwanted males be it eating them yourself or giving away for free knowing they are going to be invited to dinner. If either of those options are not an option then stick with sex linked pullets so your guaranteed to never have a rooster in your flock.

In the interim you can put the one cockerel or both cockerels in the extra coop. They will get along if away from the girls. May take a day but they will settle in and get along. It's the vying for dominance for control of harem that causes problems. Take away the harem and then they get along fine.

 

[bobbi-j]

Personally, I'd either eat him or find him a new home. Things could turn ugly and turn fast between those two boys. Maybe not, but it could.

 

[sourland]

I too think that relocation of this bird is your best bet considering the upcoming move. Interactions between the two cockerels will most likely get worse.

 

[Folly's place]

I agree, he needs to go. Setting up another coop and flock is impractical, at least, in a very short time.
Have you found out what import requirements there are for moving to your next country? Many places have seriously difficult/expensive hoops to jump through.
Mary

 

[TheOgdensmenagerie]

I have bad this problem! With the exact same breed. So happened I took both Roosters for a test run. Let the ladies choose which got to stay.
I separated one roo out for a few days and sae how everyone acted. Is everyone happy are the ladies getting overly attacked... Etc. Then did the same with the other.

My findings the domient roo who had attacked the other roo was a domient roo in the hen house and was a giant butthead to the hens as well.
He was always aggressive towards me and didnt like me around the hens. That was a problem.

I chose to freezer the dominate roo. It all worked out well. The other roo turned out to be an amazing one who protected his flock without stepping on any toes including mine.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I would separate the less dominate rooster into your backup pen. He does not need any hens, and he will do fine by himself.

 

[lazy gardener]

I would get rid of at least one. This is your best long term solution. Before making any decisions, answer these questions:

Do you really need a rooster? Why?

Is your decision to keep one or two roosters based on a feeling of obligation?: (I started them from chicks, therefore I must keep them)

Would your flock be better, and would the flock harmony be better without ANY rooster?

Are you and your neighbors really ok about the crowing?