Separate males from females?

[imthedude]

Hey folks. Out of our 8 "girls", I think we got two boys. They'll be 6 wks. old tomorrow. I've noticed the boys beginning to spar with each other a little bit. Should I separate them from the ladies? Haven't noticed much chasing around yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. We live in the city, so I'm afraid we won't be able to keep them until they're edible size unless they wait a long time to crow. Off to a farm they'll go, I suppose.

 

[CallyB57]

My experience (which I am quite sure might be vastly different from the experiences of others), is that if you raise the chicks all together, both boys and girls, they will establish a pecking order and mostly get along, and if occasional battles break out, depending of how aggressive your breed is, most scraps will dissipate. I have a case now that is causing me pretty much misery, and I'll expound upon it here. I have a VERY LARGE docile rooster who has been the king of the run, dominating all hens and the other 4 roosters. The other 4 roosters are 1-an EE that is NOT docile in any way. 2-two Silkie roosters, one docile and one not too docile (you have to know Silkies to get what I'm talking about here, as they are mostly all kittens) and the last rooster is an OEGB (moved in on me from the neighbor's house and will not go home) that is very tiny, very beautiful, and has no clue he is a lightweight.
To get on with this story, I had to separate my huge, docile rooster from the flock as he was having foot problems and I thought that putting him on soft rye grass in another fenced area would be much better for his feet - he is ALWAYS having some kind of foot problems - feathered feet. He has been in a separate area now for about a month (his feet are improving) but while he was away in the adjoining area, the little OEGB took over - I doubt he weighs much over 2 or 3 pounds and is now forever romancing my 8-10 pound Brahma hens and strutting about like he is some kind of giant of Bashan. About a week ago he flew over the fence into the grassy area where I have my very huge and docile Brahma rooster, Phinneas. You can't imagine what ensued. The docile rooster at first tried to evade the little cock, but the little cock would have nothing of the sort and began to fly at the Brahma over and over. Finally, Phinneas began to retaliate as a horse would swat a fly with its tail, but the banty rooster kept on until Phinneas whooped his tail. He recovered, but was bleeding in a few places. After this occurred, the Silkie rooster that is 'not so docile' decided that he would 'take over' the hen pen, though I've never seen him show the least bit interest in my large, standard Brahmas. I tried to put Phinneas back into the main flock, but now the Silkie rooster is harrassing him at every turn - it would be funny if it weren't so tragic. You can see where this is going as far as advice, and actually, I believe that at least a few other people might give this advice.
ROOSTERS, IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN 1 OR TWO, CAN BE A DANG LOT OF TROUBLE. And once you love 'em, it gets really hard to think of a good solution. I love my roosters, but if I could give away a couple of my Silkies and that silly banty, I would do it, but I'm just afraid they might not be well taken care of, so I can't bring myself to give them away.
Having said all this, I hope you heed this rooster advice and don't get in over your head. If you don't have them, you won't love them, and the problem will be solved.