Texas

[gameandmore]

Hey can someone answer a question for me.  I think I have 2 roos, they are both RIR.  Does anyone know if they will be ok together?  I have heard some people say you can't have 2 roos in the same pen and others say you can.  I don't know if different breeds act differently.  So what do you think?

I have two roos together,a white faced black spanish and a BO... but it would be impossible to keep two of my game roos together..... just depends reallt

 

[A1momof3]

In general, you can keep roosters together. How successfully depends on the roosters themselves. They usually sort it out and they each know who is the subordinate rooster. Problems happen when neither is prepared to back down. Also, think about your ratio of hens to roosters.

Well If these are both roos then I will have 18 hens. I have 20 chicks. 15 RIR and 5 BR.

I have two roos together,a white faced black spanish and a BO... but it would be impossible to keep two of my game roos together..... just depends reallt

I can tell they already have their moments but not for long. They seem to get along ok so far. Guess ya'll are right will just have to wait and see how it goes. I am just excited I have a Roo. Thanks for the help!

 

[harley1975]

My turkeys out grew the brooder I had so had to find something bigger. Found some wooden boxes on craigslist that are 34"x42"x24" tall that looks like they will last along time.

 

[Ren2014]

In general, you can keep roosters together. How successfully depends on the roosters themselves. They usually sort it out and they each know who is the subordinate rooster. Problems happen when neither is prepared to back down. Also, think about your ratio of hens to roosters.

What is a good ratio of hens to roosters?

 

[lovingmyhens]

Keep in mind just how big some of the chickens you are looking to buy are when they are all grown up. Australorpes were one breed weren't they? They are huge. That was one of the reasons I was pushing the little bantams--big egg, small chicken. Small chicken means small mess and damage to your yard.

Yeah my Australorpe is ginormous! So much bigger than my EE's and my leghorn.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Well If these are both roos then I will have 18 hens. I have 20 chicks. 15 RIR and 5 BR.
I can tell they already have their moments but not for long. They seem to get along ok so far. Guess ya'll are right will just have to wait and see how it goes. I am just excited I have a Roo. Thanks for the help!

You "should" have no problems. Cockerels (and pullets, too) will fight and spare a bit, especially as chicks. As they grow up, the roosters might actually have a few scuffles. Usually there is no damage, especially with young cockerels. Most of the time all you will see is some feathers in the yard that have obviously been pulled out. Their fighting is mostly symbolic, lots of posturing, flaring and chest bumping but not a lot of damage. Except for the more aggressive game breeds, most roosters who have grown up together can usually be housed together. Your problems are when neither bird backs down. As long as there is one bird they both agree is the stronger more dominant bird, they'll scuffle and stop with the weaker bird quickly backing down. "Weaker" isn't always physical weakness, but more mental.

I had four large fowl cockerels running with three pullets until one ran away from home, jumped my fence into my back yard with my Silkies, including my Silkie roo. He happily lived there until I finally got around to slaughtering all the excess cockerels at about 10 months. (I am THE Queen at putting off slaughtering.) Before I slaughtered them, I separated the large fowl pullets from the front yard into a separate pen away from the three cockerels. That left three boys in the front alone until two of them were finally slaughtered. I had no problems with them together, although they kept jumping in the back yard where the Silkie girls were. The Silkie girls loved them--they are such hussies!

I grew out a bachelor pen of Silkie cockerels I kept together with no problems until I got around to slaughtering them at 6 months of age.

That has been my experiences with cockerels. I still have three roos that are about a year old (and one 6-month old still in quarantine, so he doesn't count) The Silkie and the Cochin are in the back yard and the large fowl Ameraucana in the front with four pullets.

Occasionally the remaining large fowl cockerel will jump the fence into the back with my Silkie cockerel and my bantam Cochin cockerel. Both bantams are smart enough to not challenge him.

My two bantams roosters, now a year old, have been housed together on and off all winter. The Cochin is a double-copy frizzle, so has very poor feathers and cannot survive in the cold without supplemental heat. He was in my house all winter. I've been able to reintroduce him to the bigger Silkie cockerel several times. There has been some sparing, and some blood (from biting of the comb) but I watch to make sure no one gets hurt, and if things aren't working out that day, I'll put one in a double-walled pen so they can be together but not able to hurt each other. At most, it takes me a day to get them together again after they have been separated. They should be good all summer now. I expect the same issues next winter on warm days when I get the frazzle back outside. Both breed the Silkies hens without a problem.

I did find my large fowl Ameraucanas to be people aggressive. I don't know if that is because there were too many of them for the number of pullets. They weren't sexually aggressive with the pullets. My remaining Ameraucana rooster is soup waiting to be cooked. He's gorgeous and I am just waiting to get some chicks from him and for the new chicks in my brooder to grow up enough to take over his job as protector of the flock, which he does very, very well. I will never put off slaughtering cockerels that long again, but there were legitimate reasons for putting it off, besides my superb procrastination skills.

Hope that helps.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Yeah my Australorpe is ginormous! So much bigger than my EE's and my leghorn.

I saw some for the firs time at a poultry show and they seemed the size of turkeys to me. They were huge! So much bigger than my large fowl Ameraucanas.

 

[jajeanpierre]

What is a good ratio of hens to roosters?

I don't know--maybe 6 to 8 hens per rooster.

My own bantam flock has two roos and only seven pullets, with another pullet that floats between the two flocks. It is not ideal, but works. They have a lot of space, so are basically free ranging. I think free ranging makes things a lot easier.

Before I slaughtered the three cockerels, I had a peaceful flock of three pullets and four cockerels (before one left that flock to hang out with the hussy Silkies in the back yard). The problem was not the boys, but that one hen was a favorite to the only two who allowed to breed. They were fine--she was losing feathers.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

I was going to get a Delaware, BCM's, Buckeye, cream legbar and an Ameracauna. Aren't they are more 'normal' size for the big birds?

Janet-can your dog house be painted for the finish and do you think I could do the deep litter method in it? Maybe I should just put wire around the bottom and leave the bottom out....

I have two pallets I could use to make a coop out of. Some plywood pieces too.

 

[lovingmyhens]

I was going to get a Delaware, BCM's, Buckeye, cream legbar and an Ameracauna. Aren't they are more 'normal' size for the big birds?

Janet-can your dog house be painted for the finish and do you think I could do the deep litter method in it? Maybe I should just put wire around the bottom and leave the bottom out....

I have two palates I could use to make a coop out of. Some plywood pieces too.

my thoughts are to use what you have to make a good a coop as you need for right now just to get by! The winter is over, basically, so you won't have to worry about cold yet. By the time winter rolls around again, you may have been able to either add to what you build now, or get something along the lines of what you have been looking at. Really, once the chickens are a few weeks old they are just good to go. I got my pullets around age 8-10 weeks and never did anything special for them. They went straight out in the yard when they got here. They have the simplest coop, without a place to "roost", but it is cozy at night and they free range all day and roost in various places around the back yard. Seriously the easiest pets I have. I'm going to try to find the coop I bought on line-it was 125.00 and free shipping. No, it won't last forever, but for now it works just fine!