What are the chances? *ATTENTION Multi-roo owners*

[sunnyvera]

We had 2 roosters, both Wyandotte X, that could not live together even if they had 100 hens to share. They were raised together from chicks (not by me) and had to both be dispatched to freezer camp. Our roo now is very sweet. Sometimes their personality is just goofy. I think hatchery birds are not always the nicest. Just my thought.

 

[AKsmama]

I have 5 roos in my flock. They were raised together and get along fine. Even when they have to be cooped up all day together, they seem to do well. Only once have I found anyone bleeding, and that was just a scrape on one of their toes that easily could have come from something else. They do have their occasional hackle flares and staring contests, and lately my head roo Hannibal has taken to chasing my Lakenvelder Casper a bit, but that's as far as it has gone. I probably have 2 too many roos, but unless something bad happens, we'll keep them all. I agree with having a backup plan, though, that never hurts.

 

[Judy]

I had two for several months last year. No fights, no blood, nothing. #1 would chase #2 if he got too close, and kick him off a hen then mate her himself, but that was it. Got rid of #2 only because he was much too rough when mating and the hens had started hiding from him.

'Course then I had a coyote attack a few weeks later and lost #1. Now I am waiting for my chicks to grow up as I don't want to chance bringing one in. And wishing I'd kept #3 who was causing no trouble but I was worried about 3 roos with 14 hens.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I have over 20 roosters in one pen around around 50 hens. They get along just fine....there is a little fighting but not as much as you would think.

 

[gritsar]

The situation as it is right now is that my alpha roo Thor has 12 girls in his coop. Thor is very protective of his girls, but he has a chronic leg problem, so he's slow.
Impy also has 12 girls in his coop. He's been making a play for the alpha spot by mating some of Thor's girls. If Thor catches him at it, they get into it, but nothing serious. The three cockerels (6 weeks old) live in Impy's coop. One of the hens is broody, so I'm sure I'll have at least a few more hens soon.
All the birds free range together, with only minor pecking here and there. Hoping it stays that way.

 

[The Lisser]

I have 7 LF roosters that live together and although they squabble and chase, they do not do any actual harm to each other. They are different breeds. They free range around my barnyard and yard. All but one were raised together - the younger one was introduced a few months ago - he had to hide for a while (and I fed him "under cover") but they eventually accepted him and let him join their crowd. They do have 2 cliques and 2 roosting places. I keep my hens and one rooster in a coop/run so the girls don't get endlessly harassed. I'm planning to eventually construct a bigger run so I can corral the big boys while the girls get free range time.

 

[wistlindixie]

I've got 5 mature roosters in my pen and no major squabbles. There is one that we call "big daddy" and he's the boss. The others just pretty much don't buck him and everything is fine.

 

[EELover]

When I got my flock, I got straight run. 9 roosters and 8 hens. So far I have killed 4 of the roos. There are fights every once in a while but nothing major. I have one that is constantly picked on but he should get better when I finish establishing my flock. They all come from the same batch and grew up together.

 

[SilverPhoenix]

It's entirely possible, just be sure you have somewhere to separate out the boys in case a problem does pop up.

That said, I currently have five (yes, FIVE) roosters in my main coop and I have had them in there together for a few months. Four old english game bantams and one bantam sumatra. All but one young cockerel were raised together. They're sharing around 30-40 hens and so far, so good! They get into minor scuffles sometimes over who is dominant, but not a drop of blood shed so far and crossing my fingers that none will be!

If there are problems, my peaceful bachelors hang out in the duck and guinea fowl coop and extra boys can go in there, or I have other pens for solitary confinement if the boys are still not being peaceful even away from the hens. I do plan to keep all of my eleven roosters, so I have to have back-up plans just in case.

My bachelor pad has three roosters in it (plus the ducks and guineas and my chukar) and those guys get along great, too. The chukar is the only one ever who causes problems, but he luckily has been well-behaved since I moved him into this larger pen.

Ah, poultry politics...

 

[gryeyes]

As the infamous hatcher-of-Roos, I can add my few cents of anecdotal information to everybody else's positive reports.

After the one gloriously dramatic fight between Kellogg and Carl (no damage whatsoever, just the name-calling, crest-flaring, high-jumps with spurs forward, some feather loss) Kellogg/challenger stays the heck away from Carl. If he gets close, Carl rushes him and he skedaddles.

But I have many more roosters, and they all get along. There are some stare-downs with crests flared, mostly between the banty roosters, but it's usually just for warning's sake. Quite a lot of the time, the subordinate LF roosters perch companionably next to each other on some handy place to watch the girls and doze. After all, there are plenty of other roosters to call the alarm!