Too many roosters?

[webdawg]

I just received 17 White Leghorn chicks and I ordered the "St run". I just found out that half or better will be roosters. Are they going to fight all the time? Thanks

 

[eggchel]

They will start chest butting by about 4 to 6 weeks. That will be the beginning of their establishing a pecking order. If you are going to keep the extra roosters for the freezer, then it would be easiest if you put them in a separate pen away from the hens. They will not fight as much if there are no hens in the pen with them or nearby. Just keep one rooster per 8 to 12 hens and put the rest in the freezer.

chel

 

[Critter Crazy]

I agree They will fight over the girls, not to mention the girls will show signs of wear and tear from all the abuse. If you want to keep them, they should be away from the hens.

 

[silkiechicken]

Agreed. I had a pair of young leghorn roos fight themselves silly not too long ago and they were only 10 weeks old. I got home and they must have been at it for hours because both had bloody combs and they were so tired of fighting, neither was jumping any more, but rather just taking a bite of each others fleshy parts and holding while sitting on the ground, readjusting their grip every 5 minutes or so. I broke it up by picking the normally flighty as ever birds up and laying each down on their backs and they were so exhausted you'd think they were dying. The next day the dispute must have been over cuz they were back to their normal selves.

 

[webdawg]

Thanks for the tips. How do I pick the best rooster to keep? Size?