To keep two roosters or not?

[ditchdoctor546]

First time poster, long time reader. Our family is fairly new at raising chickens and our first flock is raised from two separate batches of chicks we bought, and a rooster. The first batch consists of 1 Rhode island red, 1 buff orpingtons, and 2 americauna hens. They follow around a copper maran rooster. They are just starting to lay eggs. The second batch is about 14 weeks old and consists of 3 americauna hens and 1 surprise americauna rooster. The young rooster is so submissive to the older one that he won't even come out to of the coop to eat when the maran is around, the problem with this is the younger hens follow his lead and won't come out either.

Our copper maran rooster is as perfect as can be. He's docile towards my kids and I, but very protective of predators, finds food for our lady's, and even jumped between a small dog and a hen to successfully defend her. I won't get rid of him.

I'm also skeptical to get rid of the americauna rooster though because we would like to have him around to breed pure breed chicks for yearly replacement, but he really seems to be dividing the flock. I also don't have enough hens for two roosters, and hes pretty rough with the younger chickens.

My question is, is there some solution I'm overlooking?

Attached are some introductory pictures

 

[ChickNanny13]

Sorry but I don't think you have Ameraucanas, think they're EEs. The coloring & think the white male looks like a single comb? AM have pea combs from what I've read & their coloring is specific. EE are a mix with AM, colorful birds & eggs are greenish not blue. I may be wrong but considering, I'd keep the EE but that's just me....OR you can build another chicken enclosure

 

[ditchdoctor546]

Sorry but I don't think you have Ameraucanas, think they're EEs. The coloring & think the white male looks like a single comb? AM have pea combs from what I've read & their coloring is specific. EE are a mix with AM, colorful birds & eggs are greenish not blue. I may be wrong but considering, I'd keep the EE but that's just me....OR you can build another chicken enclosure

I think you may be right. Which kind of upsets me, I bought them as chicks from Orscheln. They had both Easter eggers and Americauna chicks labeled for sale, but you're right, the roosters comb doesn't look right, and neither do some of the hens colors.

These are the eggs we've been getting

 

[junebuggena]

Your Ameraucana are actually Easter Eggers. So as far as breeding purebred Ameraucana, it's not going to happen from your current birds. Rehome your Easter Egger cockerel or invest in a much larger coop/run and more hens. Your current setup is pretty tiny for your current flock.

 

[ditchdoctor546]

Your Ameraucana are actually Easter Eggers. So as far as breeding purebred Ameraucana, it's not going to happen from your current birds. Rehome your Easter Egger cockerel or invest in a much larger coop/run and more hens. Your current setup is pretty tiny for your current flock.

I appreciate the input. I plan on expanding it as we didn't anticipate having as many as we do. In the meantime they spend a lot of time outside the coop since we spend a good portion of the day watching over them.

 

[ditchdoctor546]

Well that all pretty much makes up my mind. Thank you!

 

[lazy gardener]

What they said. EE are wonderful birds. MY avatar roo is an EE. He's been a wonderful Daddy, takes good care of his babies, and throws the blue egg gene. The recommended coop space for a back yard flock is 4 s.f./bird. So, if you intend to hatch your own replacement birds, you're gonna need a bigger coop!

 

[Mrs. K]

Chicken math, need to add and subtract. A bit tight for the number of birds in the coop. Even if you free range quite often, winter is coming. Which means long nights in tight quarters.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Well that all pretty much makes up my mind. Thank you!

I think you made a good decision.

On your 14 week old pullets. Your older ones are just starting to lay so I'll guess they are about 5 months old. Once they start laying the pullets pretty much become mature and start acting like adult hens. Your 14 week olds are not even close to adults, they are still adolescents and will be until they start to lay. Until then, when they mature, it's pretty normal for them to avoid the older ones. Don't expect them to immediately join the others when you remove that young cockerel.

It's fairly normal for mature chickens to peck immature chickens when they invade personal space. As a result it's pretty normal for the immature ones to avoid the mature ones. It's not just your young cockerel keeping the pullets in, it's the pullets' fear of the older ones. In your fairly tight space they can't leave the coop and really avoid the older ones.

I don't know how long the young ones have been sharing the coop and run with the others. For them to get along as well as they are you've done a good job integrating them. Mine intermingle a little more than I make it sound like but it is very normal for my immature chicks to form a sub-flock and avoid the older ones. I have a lot more room than you do so they can hang out in different spots outside but in a tight space like you have it's pretty common for the young to be in the coop when the adults are outside or the other way around. When I let mine out of the coop in the morning it's normal for the young ones to be up on the roosts so they can avoid the adults on the coop floor.

I don't know where they are sleeping at night but it's also very normal for my young ones to not sleep on the man roosts until they mature enough to force their way into the pecking order. For the pullets that's somewhere around the time they start to lay.

Don't be discouraged if they remain two different flocks when you remove that cockerel. They will become one when they mature.

 

[Peeps61]

Ridgerunner has given some great information above. I have a multi-generational flock with birds dating back to 2013 when I first got into chickens. One thing I have noticed is that the younger birds, even when they are laying, will often still hang around in sub-flocks. They will mingle with the older birds while they are ranging, but will roost together at night and tend to chase each other around, versus the older hens.

Your younger cockerel is still maturing. If he remains the junior rooster, he'll crow less and will mate hens only when he can be a sneak and do so. If he becomes equal to the other rooster, they'll begin to spar, so you'll need to keep an eye out for that. If you have a great rooster in the Maran's, I'd keep him. You know what you have there - when the hormones kick in, the younger rooster will be a holy terror until they level out or he understands from the dominant roo that he can't be the top bird in the flock. Good luck!