When do chicks begin to roost?

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Hi everyone. First post. Love this forum. I have a couple of questions.

When do chicks begin to roost? I have 7, 11-week-old Welsummers (4 pullets, 3 cocklings) and a roost in their coop, but they do this funny thing every evening when they put themselves to bed. They all cram themselves into one particular corner and fight with each other for position. They end up in a pile 2 or 3 deep. It's hilarious. I told them I'm going to take pictures so that I can show them later when they're grown up how silly they're being.

Also, one of the roosters got mean with another rooster to the point that it was crying and looked hurt. I separated them and told them to behave. After several rebukes and warnings with a stick, and telling Mr Mean Mistreater that I was the only one allowed to be mean around here, he settled down and they all became their happy selves again. If this continues and gets worse, is it better to get rid of the aggressor or the victim?

btw, these guys are free ranging monsters. They love it!

 

[newmarch2014]

It all depends what you are doing with the roosters. Are you keeping them all, eating them later, choosing on only one to keep? Sometimes a couple/few roosters can co exist but one will come out in the end as head rooster and sometimes getting to that decision is brutal for them. Personally I would be picking the sweeter rooster because I have a dog that makes a great flock guardian and I am not breeding for show, someone else would maybe be looking for good breeding traits, someone else may appreciate a fierce protector for their free ranging flock.Personally I am all for peace in my yard so the ones that upset that peace are on this ice. My head hen is a fine chicken, but if she doesn't stop terrorizing the new chicks she is gone.
My chickens last year finally started to roost at about 12 weeks, till then they piled. My chicks this year are just coming up on 10 weeks and one roosts but the others all still pile.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

It all depends what you are doing with the roosters. Are you keeping them all, eating them later, choosing on only one to keep?

I would like to keep all 3 roosters so that I can have backups in case one falls victim to hawks. I want them for flock protection and new chicks (flock preservation, not show).

 

[newmarch2014]

Then I would say to see how the pecking order plays out but some people resort to keeping some roosters in a separate pen area to keep the chaos down. Just watch for the one that treats your hens well and is a good watchful protector.