Too many Roosters!

[Syowell]

Hello! I am relatively new to raising chickens. We picked out 6 Polish Tophats from a local breeder a couple month ago. (we decided 2020 was a weird year and what the heck, keeps everyone busy while at home!). They are now about 11 weeks old, and it turns out we should never go to Vegas because we have terrible luck! 5 out of 6 developed bright red wattles, and 2 started crowing so far (2 are too young yet to crow and still have a bit of fuzz mixed in with feathers). They are beginning to fight more too. I obviously can't get eggs from the roosters, which is primarily why we got chickens. I posted on 4 local sites asking if anyone wants a couple free roosters, but no bites. My husband wants to let them out of the run to "free range" knowing full well our neighbor lost a dozen birds to foxes, a family of bears, and a hawk over the past week. He is more worried the roosters will kill each other or the hen and that would traumatize our kids more. On top of that, I have a son on the autism scale who can't handle change well and has been melting down for days-ever since I suggested trying to give back the roosters and trade for hens. We want to get more hens, but honestly the one rooster is so aggressive I would be worried about introducing new birds. (and I thought Polish tophats were docile!). I dearly need some suggestions from fellow members!! Help please!!

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

hi, would your son be more open to just rehoming the hen? many people will gladly take a hen, and i’m sure you can find a place you can take your son to visit her.

have you ever heard of a bachelor flock? as long as you do not have any girls, you can keep your 5 boys together with minimum fighting (they still will have some fights for pecking order, but that happens with hens too)

 

[Syowell]

hi, would your son be more open to just rehoming the hen? many people will gladly take a hen, and i’m sure you can find a place you can take your son to visit her.

have you ever heard of a bachelor flock? as long as you do not have any girls, you can keep your 5 boys together with minimum fighting (they still will have some fights for pecking order, but that happens with hens too)

Never thought of that. But it defeats the purpose of getting chickens, which was eggs. Good thought though