I am new the chicken world and lovin it. My chicks are 8 weeks old and I am pretty sure that I have ended up with a couple of roosters. When should I seperate them from the hens? Carol
Hey Carol I was just thinking of that very same question myself - plus do the roosters need to be seperated from each other? I think I have 20 roo's and 12 pullets. I'm sure someone out there has an answer for us !
I posted this same question a few weeks back. The answer I got was to keep an eye on them, when they start harrassing hens and fighting amongst each other then it is time.
Quote:Carol, My first question to you would be, "Why do you want to separate your roos from your hens?"
Quote:The rule of thumb is to have 1 rooster for every ten hens. So, if I were you I would be thinking about what to do with all those roosters. My roosters are almost 18 weeks old and have been trying to mate with my hens for about 3 weeks. If you choose to keep more then 1 rooster, then they "should" be fine together, because they are raised together. This of course is in a "perfect world", sometimes they don't do well together. You will just have to wait and see. Hope this helps!!
If you collect eggs everyday you can leave the roosters with the hens, assuming you don't want little chicken nuggets (chicks). I only separate them if the roosters fight or start pulling feathers off the hens. but all the rosters should be fine since they grew up together.
Sometimes being raised together works against you. Several on here had the same situation, roosters hatched/raised together, and ended up with extremely bad endings. One person came home to find a pen with 2 roosters that had been together for 8 months; they'd gotten into a fight, and she ended up losing one from it. It really depends on how much space they have and the dispositions of the roosters. So, there's really no easy cut-and-dried answer! BEST of luck to you!!
Another roo problem is I have 1 roo to 7 hens. They have been mating for a couple of weeks. In the past, he makes his rounds form hen to hen 8-10 times a day. The crowing is almost constant and the hens are running from him. I am thinking of separating him or getting read of him before someone shoots him.(me included) Is this normal or will he slow down after time? Please shoot me an answer. John
I have ten four-week-old chicks. I've no idea how many are hens or how many are roosters. All I know is that I do not want eggs fertilized by a rooster that's the brother of my hens . So my decision is when it crows, it goes. If I decide later that I want a rooster, I will buy one from someone who has one that's not related to my blue Orpington hens.
Just because you have 10 chicks doesn't mean they are brothers and sisters. Eggs are laid by a number of hens then sent to the hatchery for hatching. Depending on how many blue orp hens that are laying they could just be the same breed. Roosters do crow so prepare yourself. I have and do know of lots of people that bought all hens form a hatchery and only 80% are hens. When we mentioned this to the hatchery they offered to replace the hens or give us credit for the roos. In my case it wasn't worth the hassle of raising chicks of different ages. John edited to add if you bought your chicks from a small breeder they could be all brothers and sisters.