Seperate flock of Roosters - will they fight?

[Lady Catrina]

In a nutshell, we ordered 38 birds in August - including two males. The order was 'messed up' in that I did not count 8 Americaunas, so I contacted Ideal and they sent me one male and one female Amer., plus 8 male barreds for warmth. Needless to say, both the Americaunas were male

. So, now I have 3 (only wanted 2) Americauna roos, Hawk, Imhotep (was Ansk Su Namun) and Ramses PLUS 8 Barred Rocks, that are ganging up on our hens. We are wanting to separate them into their own area, and I am wanting to know if they will fight with no hens around? Yes, Yes, I know, I could cull them, but as a faire goer, I can sell the feathers (so they earn their keep) and my dear Hubby cannot envision, as he puts it, 'murder' them. I've been trying, but with no success either. They are here through no fault of their own, and, well, I would rather set them loose in the fields for bug control where they would also be useful before I cull them.

Any thoughts? And no, they are not aggressive towards us, only wanting to get the girls.

Thanks for any suggestions on this!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have not had that problem. My roosters got along well with each other and the girls. However, I've seen enough posts to know that it can be a problem.

I can only repeat what I have seen reported on there and that is, it depends on the roosters. Some people report that they can pen the roosters up with the hens next to them and with a wire fence in between and they do not fight. Others report that they have to pen the roosters up out of sight of the hens to keep them from fighting.

They are all individuals and they will react differently. We are all individuals and we will define fighting differently. There will be pecking order issues if you pen up all roosters, all hens, or a mix, as you probably know. But most people report their bachelor pens are as peaceful as bachelorette pens.

 

[finallychickens]

I have a bachelor pen too and aside from a few squabbles, they seem to get along fine. There will be a definite peck order and you need to make sure that the lower ones are not prevented from getting food and water which means making sure there are enough stations. When I first decided to try the rooster pen I was worried that they would kill each other. That just has not been the case and I have not had any major blood letting which I had fully expected. The biggest nuisance is just the crowing, but if you have a set-up where that is not a problem you should be fine. Mine are also housed next door to the hens and I don't really think it makes a difference one way or the other.

 

[Lady Catrina]

Thank you both so very much for the information! Having never had this many boys before, we were concerned. Right now, they don't fight amongst themselves, just horribly harass the girls - I think the separation will help

As for the crowing, we have 10 acres, no real neighbors, so the setting is ideal. We can barely even hear them when we are in the house.

Thanks again so much!