The ins and outs of keeping a rooster flock.

[Orpingtons Mom]

Mrs. K,

I am becoming educated thanks to this BB, and people like you. Raising them from bebes (think ZeFrank) and sticking with Orpingtons will, I hope, make a difference. Plus, I think it's easier to find a home for a roo that is,... well, a gentleman. Hmmm. That just gave me an idea. I'm going to name all of them after gentlemen movie stars.

I just hope this will work. Now I've got to do some reading... NATJ posted a link.

More later.

 

[Mrs. K]

A lot of this depends on space. There is considerable difference in a 60 x 70 barn verses a 6 x 8 coop. Different set ups entirely. Advice in one situation will not work in another.

Mrs K

 

[Orpingtons Mom]

Yes, that’s why I’m thinking of a coop that’s probably 24 feet by 7 on a fenced area that is about 1/3 of an acre.

 

[centrarchid]

I raise a couple largish groups of American Dominique and a dominique cross each year. I also run a few smaller groups held on a trajectory to be used as brood stock. The smaller groups have on 4 to 6 cockerels while the larger groups can have closer to 20. Small groups are most of time in 4' x 6' pens while bigger groups are in 6' x 10' or 10' x 10' pens. Social structure is stabilized by more, not less males. If there is an aggression issue, then I install a fully mature rooster to act as moderator. Most of the time they do some free-ranging each day. When immature (<20 weeks) the presence of females appears to make no difference. With older groups females complicate things.