Too many roasters.

[Molpet]

I’ve done the broom stick before. My first time I didn’t use enough force and the poor thing suffered a bit till I got it the second pull. They are young about 6 months old. How long do you think before they mellow out? I can keep them in a separate run.

18 months the true personality of roosters shows. Before that hormones can make them jerks.

 

[tlcmurphy]

I find the title of this thread very fitting

 

[Ridgerunner]

What is the best way to kill them.

I’ve done the broom stick before. My first time I didn’t use enough force and the poor thing suffered a bit till I got it the second pull.

The best way to kill them is the way that you can without flinching or closing your eyes. You want it to be sure and you do not want to injure yourself or just injure the chicken. There are lots of different methods. Some people put them in a cone with the head sticking out of the bottom and slit their throat so they bleed to death. Some take their heads off, lots of different ways to do that. Loppers or pruners, maybe an axe, hatchet, meat cleaver, or machete with a stump. A gun. There are other methods. Some people can handle some of these methods but no others.

Sometimes part of responsible animal husbandry requires you to end a life. I think it is wise to think about this before you have an emergency.

They are young about 6 months old. How long do you think before they mellow out? I can keep them in a separate run.

Some never do. They just don't. Most probably will if they are the only male but sometimes the competition keeps them competing. I've had a cockerel manage it at 5 months, really rare that young. Most of mine are OK at 7 to 8 months though I've has some go longer than that. After 5 or 6 months I only have one male. I do not keep multiples long term.

I don't know how old yours are, it sounds like they may all still be pretty immature, both boys and girls. Your boys will decide which one is dominant. That may be a fight to the death or they may reach an accommodation on how to share the girls. They mature at different rates so you can wake up to some surprises.

At some point the girls will mature to the point that they act like hens and play their part in the flock dynamics. They may accept one or more of the boys as a responsible rooster worthy of being the father of their potential chicks or they may not. The boys need to mature to that point and act responsible. Young immature cockerels often have a hard time meeting that standard.

I don't know what your goals are toward having a rooster. My general suggestion is to keep as few boys as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed to have more problems with more boys but because the more you have the more likely you are to have problems, some potentially serious.

There is no set age they will mellow out, if they ever do. It's a lot like human children. Some become responsible adults much younger than others.