Three cockerels and two old roosters...

[RWise]

When do they start to get hormonal for you?

About 8 to 9 months, it does vary a bit.

 

[MasAhora]

As a newbie I had to learn a few things about extra cockerels the hard way. I now only allow one rooster. Aside from a fatal fight that upset me terribly (my favorite baby lost) I've also seen the stress on the hens and their condition. I simply cannot observe them all day and intrude when things get rough due to hormones.
It's not a matter of "cull cull cull". It's the reality that I had to accept that things do get out of hand at some point in ways I did not expect. Even today I am delaying the final decision for a particularly lovely cockerel (he's last on my cull list).
I've chosen to let my hens raise chicks, so I have to accept the reality or the flock suffers.

You need to do what you think is right and then adjust it as circumstances dictate. I really empathize with you. Fortunately people here are kind, no one mocked me for the wonderful events I thought were happening with my cockerels finding their own way... until it all went south.
Take your time but be realistic, chickens will behave like pack animals with pecking orders that can become brutal and it's very hard to observe them 24/7.

 

[aart]

the plan was to give away or cull. I am not sure how tasty Silkey meat is as the little guys are tiny still.

'Cull' just means to 'remove'.....you could give away, sell, or slaughter for meat.
Any healthy bird is edible, people raise quail to eat...was a guy on a forum that raised silkies specifically for meat the Asian population in his area.

When do they start to get hormonal for you?

Here its at about 4 months that the hormones begin to flow and they start fighting and/or trying to mate.