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I have free ranged here for going on 21 years, every single group. Never a predator loss, not one. Free range is always a risk, but I believe they are much healthier for it, getting green forage, animal protein and natural wormers. Roosters will always compete in a group, even the bantams in the spring, especially, so I expect it. I do not free range my groups together, though, only on a rotating basis, each group by itself. I have no issues with a rooster being his natural self as long as he doesn't want to fight me or cause me to clean up too much blood. If the battles become too much, I can separate them or sell one. It's your choice if you prefer not to free range, of course.
We have major predator pressure here, everything you can imagine other than a fisher. I am personally past the point that I can manage seven or eight different groups. We are at a different time in our lives; I am about to turn 69. My disabled veteran husband is going to be 73 soon, so the days of all those different breeding groups are over for me. The work falls mostly on me, every single day. I am tired, Rusty, and I have to make some hard decisions because I need to do something other than chickens in my life, much as I adore them. I quilt and I write and those take concentration, not jumping up every hour to do something in the barn. I'd love to be some big time breeder, but that is no longer in me to even contemplate. I can't afford the feed to keep that many anyway.
This is the first time with this high quality stock that I have ever had trouble rehoming them. Maybe the locals here just are ignorant of the difference in quality or maybe it was just a one-off. I had terrible trouble getting rid of extra males with the bantam Cochins, too, maybe they're just a dime a dozen here, too common. So too high quality or too common both have been an issue when I had one. The Blue Partridge Brahmas were never a problem to sell. I could sell those all day long, same with the Stukels and the Burk line of BRs.
I did have an all male hatch of BRs once, Hector's sons, but no issue rehoming them once the customer saw Hector, he took all four of them. I wish it was still that easy!
I have had 4H and FFA purchase stock from me and used to see breeders answering my ads for extra males, but not in the recent past. I believe the Covid crap and ad nauseum bird flu bruhaha had an influence on that, stopping shows and transport of birds across state lines, even discouraging some from ever keeping chickens in the first place.
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I've been reading this thread for a while and enjoying your photos and learnt lots as a Barred Plymouth Rock newbie. Just de-lurking because I wanted to say how very sorry I was to read about Tallulah.
