Silkie males

[JackBaker]

About five months ago I decide to have a separate flock of Silkies and had my husband build a Silkie Coop because I love Silkies. I currently have 4 Cockerel and 10 Pullets, 2 cockerel are 5 month old and the other 2 is 4 month old and I'm to a point where I have to change the situation. My two 5 month old are harassing the girls too much and they started to attack me! It's too many boys in the hen house so I have to decide which ones I will keep and rest I need to re-home or put them with my free-range flock of 25 hens and sweet Rooster. I do have 5 chicks with 3 mama's rearing them so I'm not sure I want them their either. If you worry about the girls you need to have them separated from the girls for sure, that is from my experience. Good luck, I know it is hard to get rid of them because I want to keep them all, LOL!!

Wow, ok I think from the looks of things it would be better to keep just one or two adult males in with the hens until I got a better understanding of the situation and cockerels in general. I'm the exact same with my pigeons I never re-home them, which is why I only usually breed a pair once, but they live in pairs with multiple cocks and hens within the flock so it is different. Thank you for you information.

 

[aart]

I'm the exact same with my pigeons I never re-home them, which is why I only usually breed a pair once, but they live in pairs with multiple cocks and hens within the flock so it is different.

How do you keep them from breeding...take eggs away?
Will pigeons go broody without eggs and not stop?

 

[JackBaker]

How do you keep them from breeding...take eggs away?
Will pigeons go broody without eggs and not stop?

Yeah so I remove the eggs and replace them with false ones. As both parents sit the eggs it is a bit different as they will only sit for about an extra week and then realize the eggs are not going to hatch and then start to try again lol. Pigeons and doves breed like rabbits, with averaging about 5-6 nests out of each pair per year if they are just allowed to rear them. So pigeons are constantly in a state of broodiness pretty much their entire adult life and constantly want to reproduce. If you were to take away their eggs then they would just lay more in about a week or two if you did not replace them with false ones.

 

[Stacyoung13]

Yes, I have several silkie hens, along with other breeds also. I have a few select silkies that I choose to breed together. My coop setup is such that I am able to have a separate area when I want to keep certain females with a specific male for breeding purposes. Silkies are normally very docile as you stated and they're just so much fun

How many hens do you have with your roos ?

 

[Chicksandme]

Wow, ok I think from the looks of things it would be better to keep just one or two adult males in with the hens until I got a better understanding of the situation and cockerels in general. I'm the exact same with my pigeons I never re-home them, which is why I only usually breed a pair once, but they live in pairs with multiple cocks and hens within the flock so it is different. Thank you for you information.

I'm glad i could help, chicken have the hierarchy thing also the cockerels will fight each other for position so there will be no peace. They might hurt each other and who ever gets in the way of it. I wish they were more like pigeons then I could keep them all. Looking forward to seeing your photos!

 

[CannedMonster]

As others have mentioned, if they’re raised together, the pecking order is established early in the brooder.
Adding other males later will probably cause fighting.
Problems begin with teenage hormones at about 4 months or so and with the presence of pullets and/or hens.
Most recommend keeping a bachelor coop out of sight of the females; others have reported keeping them where they can see the females without issues.

Consider also that it takes much longer with Silkies to tell which are males and which are females.
Good luck to you! Silkies are wonderful birds.

 

[Fluffy&Cutie]

I don't eat meat so I couldn't do that to them. I understand what your saying in terms of breeding and wouldn't let them just have nest all the time, but I think if they could I would like a nest out of them. Do you have problems with your silkie Cockerels bring together?.

Hello my chicken friend.
As there are so many opinions out there in the world, I have a few reflective questions for you. Keep in mind that I too dream of breeding my own silkie flock, love roosters, and do not eat meat. These are questions I ask myself...
How many chickens do you think you can care for? (That' s a lot of scooping poop, flies, are u taking vacations-who will care for them, etc.) How many roosters do you want? Why do you want chickens? What' s the magic number of too many roosters (depending on city law, space, unhappy neighbors, and your ability to care for them) And...when you do end up with that magic # of roosters/chickens what will you do with the extra chickens?
Yes, you can house a rooster only coop and rotate roosters into the henhouse as desired, which might be a better option.
After facing these questions, I had to decide against any roosters at this time, sadly. Good luck to you.

 

[JackBaker]

Hello my chicken friend.
As there are so many opinions out there in the world, I have a few reflective questions for you. Keep in mind that I too dream of breeding my own silkie flock, love roosters, and do not eat meat. These are questions I ask myself...
How many chickens do you think you can care for? (That' s a lot of scooping poop, flies, are u taking vacations-who will care for them, etc.) How many roosters do you want? Why do you want chickens? What' s the magic number of too many roosters (depending on city law, space, unhappy neighbors, and your ability to care for them) And...when you do end up with that magic # of roosters/chickens what will you do with the extra chickens?
Yes, you can house a rooster only coop and rotate roosters into the henhouse as desired, which might be a better option.
After facing these questions, I had to decide against any roosters at this time, sadly. Good luck to you.

Thank you so much for replying. I live in the UK countryside so space and neighbors are no issue. There are also no laws against it here. It was more just me not wanting to re home any young that I would of bred but I think I would just stick to the flock and not breed them.