Too many roosters

[pinksapphire]

I have too many roosters (7) they are starting to fight and hassle the hens.
I have tried to find homes for them but the only people that wanted to take them would have used them in cock fighting ( a popular activity in my area)

I am now thinking of moving six of the roosters to a different part of my property, free ranging during the day and into a coop with an automatic door at night.
Would they stop fighting if they where by themselves without hens
And would they try to get back to the flock? it is about 100m meters away with two 8ft high walls in-between

 

[Banana01]

Sounds like you reached the point of rooster to hen ratio where the flock is getting hectic. I would not bet against the roosters finding their way back to the hens unless vegas offered at least 50 to 1 odds.

Are you against prepping them for your freezer? It is nice to try to rehome them far away. I guess try it?

 

[Tonyroo]

People who do keep x amount of roosters do have them in there own coop and run. Not seeing or hearing the hens usually help keep the peace with the flock.

 

[pinksapphire]

People who do keep x amount of roosters do have them in there own coop and run. Not seeing or hearing the hens usually help keep the peace with the flock.

Thanks they definitely would not be able to see them and would probably only be able to hear the crowing of the one cockerel that will be staying with the hens

 

[pinksapphire]

Sounds like you reached the point of rooster to hen ratio where the flock is getting hectic. I would not bet against the roosters finding their way back to the hens unless vegas offered at least 50 to 1 odds.

Are you against prepping them for your freezer? It is nice to try to rehome them far away. I guess try it?

Yes I have seven roosters to about 12 hens and really only want one rooster with the hens. I would not be able to bring myself to kill them, they are bantam mix so would not have much meat on them anyway. Thanks for your response

 

[Mrs. K]

You can't just wish with roosters. And while a bachelor pad might work if it was a coop/run, it might not work for all of the cockerels. Some will fight no matter what.

Free ranging roosters, will be back to be with the hens. That is what they do, and I would not be surprised if they found them in under less than 1/2 a mile. And might at more than that.

There are no easy answers. But wishing won't work. You pretty much have to do something permanent.

Mrs K

 

[Banana01]

Yes I have seven roosters to about 12 hens and really only want one rooster with the hens. I would not be able to bring myself to kill them, they are bantam mix so would not have much meat on them anyway. Thanks for your response

I was in a similar spot, and ended up having to kill 4 bantam roosters. I do not like to kill roosters, but that is a necessary aspect to it. The bantams I killed I raised from eggs, but it is better with only 1 bantam rooster. I keep their father alive and had to kill them because they were running him off and almost killed him.

 

[greyslyn]

I would separate rooster chicks from hen chicks even at 4-6 weeks, not for the fighting but the roosters push pullets away from the food dish.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I've always struggled with this too. If your hens are in a coop and run, could you let the boys free range during the day? I'm not saying this will definitely work, but it's helped with my rooster to hen problematic ratio. I know this isn't ideal and many people would say it's cruel because they can't mate like this, but you have to find what works best for you and your flock. This isn't possible for all of my birds. My really small Bantam roosters (3 OEGB's, a booted bantam, and a frizzled bantam Cochin-all are much smaller than my other boys. I do have 2 silkie roosters that free range though) could be beat up or even picked off quickly by predators so I do keep them in their own coop and run and let them free range only in the mornings while I'm doing chores. They know the drill and go back up easily. Another thing that would make this impossible is a really human aggressive rooster because it'd be too difficult to get him back up. This doesn't work for many but I thought I'd share an option that might work for some. If I felt like they were miserable, I wouldn't do this. I spend hours outside with them every single day. I wish you the best with your flock and hope you find a solution that works for you

 

[pinksapphire]

I've always struggled with this too. If your hens are in a coop and run, could you let the boys free range during the day? I'm not saying this will definitely work, but it's helped with my rooster to hen problematic ratio. I know this isn't ideal and many people would say it's cruel because they can't mate like this, but you have to find what works best for you and your flock. This isn't possible for all of my birds. My really small Bantam roosters (3 OEGB's, a booted bantam, and a frizzled bantam Cochin-all are much smaller than my other boys. I do have 2 silkie roosters that free range though) could be beat up or even picked off quickly by predators so I do keep them in their own coop and run and let them free range only in the mornings while I'm doing chores. They know the drill and go back up easily. Another thing that would make this impossible is a really human aggressive rooster because it'd be too difficult to get him back up. This doesn't work for many but I thought I'd share an option that might work for some. If I felt like they were miserable, I wouldn't do this. I spend hours outside with them every single day. I wish you the best with your flock and hope you find a solution that works for you

Thank you for your advise, all my flock free range in a large area but they were still picking on the smaller bantam roosters and have nearly killed two of them.
I have now found nice homes for three of them and hope to find homes for the other three in the coming weeks.