Too many rooster?

[MegaChickEnergy]

Hi there!

So the last few weeks my new rooster 4/4.5 months old(I say new but I raised them from week old or whatever they come from tsc) have been heavily picking on three specific hens to the point where they have wobbly legs and can hardly walk right.

I take them from the coop every morning and take them down to the bush they all seem to gather around to get away from the rooster, (it's our daily routine) but sometimes I don't make it out in the evening to watch them get back safely to the coop and I know they get ambushed.

I have 2.5 rooster from this flock, I say 2.5 because one of my barred rocks acts like a rooster but hasn't started crowing yet. But it looks just like it's brother who has a very large and pretty comb and is past the awkward squeeky crow.

Anyway, I have 10 hens with this new flock and the other 7 get by just fine. For some reason they don't mount them either at all or just not as aggressive. With my olive egger roo there is not courtship dance he just spots them across the yard raptor runs to them and goes to town. I do my best to intercept if I can but sometimes I'm not that lucky. The other 2 still mouth the samet three, but like I said not has hard, but when they are wobbly on their legs already it's rough either way.

Then I have 1 rooster with my 3 last year hens, and he will single out the worst one of the new three and mate her too, not everyday but if the others are already in the coop for the night and she hobbles in he's on her.

Now, all my roosters try to mate my ducks, but the drakes hold their own for the most part. I've got three male gunnies and one female too, and they cause heavy issue but I think I'll be selling the male gunnies so there's no issue there.

So, after all that is it safe to say I need to sell a few roosters, or just wait it out and see if they come out of the aggressive mating stage? Also, with the two barred rocks they always stick together, and they are always with the flock in the bushes. The olive egger one gets run off and usually is found standing in front of the nesting boxes where the other three hang out till I get there in the mornings.

This is my third year with chickens and I haven't been able to really establish a good sized flock yet so I don't know how the whole group screen works yet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm going try and capture a few pictures of the barred rocks and see what y'all think.


Thanks for all the help!

P.S So this is the flock that the two(or one) barred rock has. Idk if the other is just the alpha hen and tries to mount them into submission or if it's a late bloomer. How y'all can help. Usually there is a third goldlaced wanydotte but she's currently in the coop with the other three for some reason. Oh and only one of these 10 ha e started laying. They are roughly 16-18 weeks old.

Thanks again!!!

 

[FrostRanger]

How I would choose
Right off the bat
- Cull anyone human aggressive
- Cull anyone who is mean to the hens
- Cull any rooster over a year to year and a half old who is a brute when mating
- Cull or rehome any rooster with serious genetic problem
Next
- Rehome any rooster who is otherwise nice but the girls don't like for whatever reason
- Rehome any roosters you don't like for whatever reason but are otherwise gentleman
If you're torn between 2 or more boys pick whomever the hens prefer, they have to live with him after all
Also know none of them may turn out as roosters are a gamble

 

[Mrs. K]

Well yes, you need to reduce the number of you roosters. I think you know that. Get started, but don’t plan to do them all at once, because removing cockerels and roosters will change the flock dynamics.

I lost count of your roosters but take the total and divide by two. Half get the bye so far, half are out of your flock. Wait 2-3?weeks.

Now repeat, half go and half stay. Repeat until you get the least number of roosters that you need.

Personally, I keep one rooster. I would not add a second rooster until I had a flock over 20-25 head. And I am picky about my roosters, they need to be good or they don’t stay.

I have no experience with different types of fowl but have read on here that there are serious problems with chickens and ducks.

IMO there is more than just keeping birds to this hobby. A well run flock needs birds added and subtracted from it, always solve for peace in the flock.

Do not wait and dilly dally, get started.

Mrs K

 

[MegaChickEnergy]

Well yes, you need to reduce the number of you roosters. I think you know that. Get started, but don’t plan to do them all at once, because removing cockerels and roosters will change the flock dynamics.

I lost count of your roosters but take the total and divide by two. Half get the bye so far, half are out of your flock. Wait 2-3?weeks.

Now repeat, half go and half stay. Repeat until you get the least number of roosters that you need.

Personally, I keep one rooster. I would not add a second rooster until I had a flock over 20-25 head. And I am picky about my roosters, they need to be good or they don’t stay.

I have no experience with different types of fowl but have read on here that there are serious problems with chickens and ducks.

IMO there is more than just keeping birds to this hobby. A well run flock needs birds added and subtracted from it, always solve for peace in the flock.

Do not wait and dilly dally, get started.

Mrs K

Thank you! Yeah I kind of rambled up there but I have 1 established rooster(Neville) from last year that I love, he is a very good roster. Including him I have 3 for sure(Neville, Klaus, and Damen) and one that I have no clue(Caroline). I had planned to re-home Klaus and Caroline (if she is a he) but I think the real problem rooster is Damen.

But I really like your way with 20-25 hens with your one rooster. Neville is super amazing and not aggressive at all, actually none of my roosters are aggressive, they just really like to mate.


Thank you again for your feed back, I think cutting out one or two is the smart way to go right now.

 

[MegaChickEnergy]

How I would choose
Right off the bat
- Cull anyone human aggressive
- Cull anyone who is mean to the hens
- Cull any rooster over a year to year and a half old who is a brute when mating
- Cull or rehome any rooster with serious genetic problem
Next
- Rehome any rooster who is otherwise nice but the girls don't like for whatever reason
- Rehome any roosters you don't like for whatever reason but are otherwise gentleman
If you're torn between 2 or more boys pick whomever the hens prefer, they have to live with him after all
Also know none of them may turn out as roosters are a gamble

I'm really new, what does cull mean. I see it all the time, but didn't really understand. Unless it means to separate from the flock and try to tame it so to speak. But none of my roosters are aggressive per say, they don't attack any of us or the other animals, they just really like to mate and it isn't all the time either. It's only in the morning when they get let out of the coop, and at night when everyone is going back into the coop. During the day they may mount a hen or two but no flying feathers or anything crazy, they just really like certain hens. So it's super hard to decide what ones need to go and what ones to keep. Except for the one rooster his name is Damen and he's the one that will chase the hens and ducks instead of courting. So I think he will for sure be rehomed.

Thank you for your feed back!

 

[FrostRanger]

To cull a bird is to put them down. Generally once a rooster becomes aggressive they usually can't be tamed and even if you tame him you're likely to have problems out of his children with aggression hence why it's recommended to cull a mean rooster and turn him into soup.
That said, Damen likely just dealing with hormones and might eventually settle down once he gets a bit older for someone else although I would rehome him with full disclosure about his behavior

 

[Mrs. K]

While putting a bird down, or dispatching a bird is one definition of 'cull' it can also mean to just remove from the flock. Harvesting is actually the easiest and quickest route to peace in the flock.

Some people can find other people to take them. But one needs far less roosters than hens, so it can be very difficult to impossible to find someone to take them.

A bachelors pen is a way to cull too, as they are removed from the laying flock.

A lot of people are rather uncomfortable with the idea of harvesting a perfectly healthy male. It is a hard idea to come around to, however it is a real fact, that most flocks, especially small flocks in backyards keeping too many roosters is very hard on several hens.

Roosters are where as AART says - where the romance meets reality.

Mrs K

 

[MegaChickEnergy]

While putting a bird down, or dispatching a bird is one definition of 'cull' it can also mean to just remove from the flock. Harvesting is actually the easiest and quickest route to peace in the flock.

Some people can find other people to take them. But one needs far less roosters than hens, so it can be very difficult to impossible to find someone to take them.

A bachelors pen is a way to cull too, as they are removed from the laying flock.

A lot of people are rather uncomfortable with the idea of harvesting a perfectly healthy male. It is a hard idea to come around to, however it is a real fact, that most flocks, especially small flocks in backyards keeping too many roosters is very hard on several hens.

Roosters are where as AART says - where the romance meets reality.

Mrs K

I like the idea of the bachelor pad. I have a good sized coop I use for the babies when they out grow the brooders but are still to little for the big coop. I might try that over rehoming, since it's not being used right now.

 

[FrostRanger]

You can certainly try that if you wish and it's certainly useful for keeping roosters long enough to somewhat assess their temperment but do know that it sometimes doesn't work out. If you do go that route make sure to keep the bachelor pen out of view of the flock with hens to make it less likely the boys will fight. Hopefully everything goes smoothly for you and your birds!

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree with FrostRanger. Often times (as most things with chickens) bachelor pens are a solution, but not a 100% solution as in they will always work out.

Roosters are just a crap shoot. How they behave today, is no indication how it will go tomorrow. They may just get along fine, and then for no apparent reason, they fight. They might just fight once and never again, and they may fight, rest, fight, rest over and over until someone is dead. They may become incredibly aggressive to humans.

One always needs to be aware of roosters, and how they really are, not how one wishes they would be.

The best idea of the brooder plan, is you can try some different scenarios as to which rooster does what - and see how it works out. It is a known fact that separating roosters changes everything.

Good Luck,

Mrs K