when to remove the cockerel - screw up the pecking order?

[Kodiakkoop]

Our chicks are 4 weeks old now and we're getting ready to move them into the coop this weekend. we got 8 straight run hoping to end up with 3 - 5 hens in the end. is there a preferred age to cull a Roo from the flock? (dinner plans aside - I'm not concerned about making the decision based on whether he's big enough to eat.) okay to pull them out later - as they crow?- when the flock established? okay to pull them out as you discover them? or make the big decision now and only move the ones we think are pullets. DH suggested we leave the suspect chicks in the brooder and move the rest but I argue that if the ones we think are cockerels end up being pullets and we've separated them we'll have a hard time integrating them back into the flock. so far I'm only SURE about one and he's no problem (yet) and is one of the sweetest chicks I have. We're so new to this and because the chicks are mixed breeds I'm having a hard time figuring out boys from girls.
this is the only one that I'm fairly confident is a Roo. any advice is welcome!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Whenever you take one out you mess with the pecking order. In spite of all the things you read on here, that’s not usually a big deal, though the more space you have the easier an adjustment to the pecking order or integration usually goes.

My suggestion is to wait until you are sure, then take them all out at once. That’s the least disruptive way. You’ve probably got about a couple of months to go before the difference in sex makes any difference.

 

[Glory Bee]

I have 46 heritage breed chicks that are two weeks old and will be moving them to the coop soon.The coop has two 8x10 sections with separate runs.With Good Shepherd Barred Rocks,German New Hampshire,and Rhode Island Reds,and a few Marans. I need to keep the cockerels for several months before culling(what I am understanding).When I move the chicks,would it be best to put the Barred Rocks on one side since they get larger? Or would you wait and use one side of the pen for cockerels?It looks like I can keep them all together for at least a few more weeks?At this point I am unsure of the sexes.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I'm unsure why you'd want to hurry up and cull the cockerels. They don't start to fight and get aggressive until sexual maturity. Depending on breed and strain that would be around 5 months give or take a month. You'll definitely see a point in time when you know you've too many males vying for the females and that's when I'd cull the less desirable males.

We ended up with twice the males as females this springs hatch. I'll be culling out 5 of them for July 4th barbeque. They will barely be of Corinish hen size by then but sure to be tasty! That will put me down to 2 males and 4 females in the grow out pen. By then they will need the extra space. I don't need the two males as I have a beautiful breeder rooster but will grow them out to size to roast this fall.

Pecking order has never been a problem for me when taking out chickens from a flock it's really only problematic at times when introduce new chickens to the flock. That's when it takes a few days for them to figure out rank; when taking them out they already know rank so there is no question for them to be pecking over.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Glory Bee,

Many folks pull the cockerels into a bachelor pad as soon as the sex is determined. The cockerels often compete heavily for the feed and the pullets get pushed aside, a bit. This is simply a management decision. Not everyone does everything the same way.

Since you have heritage fowl, you likely know that making early decisions on which cockerel might be a potential leading candidate is often difficult. Some of these slower growing, slower maturing cockerels don't show what they have until nearly 11 months to a year old. It isn't uncommon for late bloomers to appear with the best tails and chest at the one year mark. Unless you gain a very, very uncanny eye, culling cockerels too soon is sometimes to cull your trophy winning breeder.

 

[Glory Bee]

I see.I guess I will know when this coop seems overcrowded.I thought maybe I should put certain breeds on one side and some on the other.It could be easier to keep them all together.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Fred brings out a very good point. Why are you removing your roosters and do you plan to keep any? Your individual goals should drive your decision.

If you are planning on breeding for show, the longer you can delay making the decision is usually better. I raise them for meat and usually make the decision around 4 to 5 months of age, which is when I think they are a good size to eat. I can generally get a pretty good idea of personality and physique about then, though with an older dominant rooster in charge of the flock, there is some guesswork involved in behaviors.

If you are just removing them because you can’t have or don’t want roosters, you really can do it at any age. As I said, it’s usually not a big deal from a pecking order aspect. I normally remove 4 or 5 at a time out of a new group of say 20. There may be a bit of readjustment to the pecking order but it’s pretty minor. But I have lots of space. The tighter they are shoehorned into an area the more risk there is with something like this.

I would not separate them by breed. That’s something else I find often blown out of proportion on this forum. If they grow up together the pecking order is usually worked out with little real violence, again extra room helps. If you have to integrate them later, it can get more violent. If they are going to be a flock, they need to grow up together.

 

[Fred's Hens]

If cockerels are intended for meat, we like to take them around 17-19 weeks, for most strains. We like our cockerels a bit on the tender side. They don't weigh as much as they will later on, but we like the younger meat. To each his own.

If you cull cockerels to sell them off, I'd not spend a day longer on feeding them than necessary. I can sex Barred Rocks at hatch, virtually. The Reds take me a few weeks longer, but certainly by 6-7 weeks, an experienced eye can see what is what.

The only reason to separate birds by breed is for the breeding season, around here anyway.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree with keeping them all together as long as possible. When you separate birds even temporarily it messes up the pecking order, so be sure to either remove all of the cockerels together to a bachelor coop, or be sure you have correctly chosen the ones to leave in because the guy in charge won't remember his former brooder mates if they come back in. I'm pretty new at all of this, but I have learned from my mistakes.