Which Roosters Do I isolate?

[microchick]

I have 5 roosters that have been raised together since day one and I have enjoyed watching their personalities emerge and their instincts kick in. I was planning on having only two roosters for our small flock. One Buff O pullet turned out to be a boy and he is a BIG boy and at this point Alpha Rooster. Two Welsummer chicks turned out to be roosters and are growing into beautiful birds.

I know what the ratio of hens to roosters is supposed to be and realized that at some point I was going to have to do something with the extra roos. I have to admit I'm fond of the feather heads though and really don't like the idea of inviting them to Sunday dinner so to speak.

So at the moment, we have three Buff O roos and two Welsummer roos. There has been the usual scuffling and fighting as they work out their issues' but lately things have taken a decisively 'dark' turn. Alpha Buff O has been sharing alpha with another Buff O rooster. Buff O rooster number 3 is very mild mannered as are the two Welsummer roosters. Needless to say the three milder mannered boys are taking a lot of abuse from the two Alphas. Last night I observed Alpha #2 chase Beta Buff O roo #3 into the coop where I heard the distinct sound of a fight breaking out between them. Fighting for them meaning that the Alpha roo chases the Beta until he gets him cornered and then beats the crap out of him. Sometimes both of the Aphas will light in on the two Betas, especially the Beta Welsummer, but what I have noticed is that the Beta roosters are not fighting back with the Alphas. For the most part they are submitting to them and even with submission they are taking the worst of it. While I have seen the Alpha Buffs chase the other Welsummer roo, I have not witnessed any aggression between them. That Wellie roo has learned to stay out of their way while the other seems to invite attack by paying attention to one of the hens when he thinks he isn't being watched.

So I know the time has come to separate them before somebody gets killed. Last night I had to rescue the smallest of the 5 roosters from under the largest. The poor guy had a bloody comb and was exhausted, just happy to lay in my lap and recover.

None of the boys....so far....has shown any aggression towards us. I think they know better. I have worked to establish myself as flock master over the roosters and they know they will get cornered, pushed to the ground and held there until they stop struggling. They know if they even approach me when I am holding a hen or one of the other roosters they are going to get cuffed and sent on their way

How do you decide which roos are your better roos? The Alphas with their tough guy attitude or the gentler natured Betas? Everything I have read says the Alphas are the ones to keep with the hens which would be the two tough guy Buffs and the Welly who has learned to keep out of their reach. I want to keep a Wellie with the hens along with the Buffs for breeding purposes ( I have Buff and a Lavender Orpington hens and Welsummer hens along with a lone Speckled Sussex)

Do I give the extra roos a pen of their own with a few hens to keep them happy or do I put them in a bachelor pen? I figure living as bachelors or living away from the flock is better than getting the you know what stomped out of you on a daily basis. Plus anything is better than getting killed.

Or. Do I let Rooster Wars play out to it's conclusion and hope nobody gets seriously injured or killed?

This isn't my first trip to the rodeo but I have to admit, I have never had roosters carry things to this level.

Advice appreciated.

Thanks, microchick aka bex

 

[enola]

The level of aggression being shown is leading to one (or more) of the roosters being fatally injured.

I wouldn't know how to help you decide which rooster would be the best one to keep.

 

[microchick]

The level of aggression being shown is leading to one (or more) of the roosters being fatally injured.

I wouldn't know how to help you decide which rooster would be the best one to keep.

That is my main concern also.

Many would say cull but in all honesty I do not like to cull unless there is a defect or injury that will decrease quality of life. Plus, having extra roos can be a benefit for both flock protection and for replacement should a roo die or be killed.

It is a tough decision. Alpha #1, Big Red is just that. A big, handsome rooster, 16 weeks old. Very protective of the girls, very attentive. He offers them tidbits when they get treats as does Fubar, the rooster he shares Alpha with. The Welsummer Roo who has learned to stay out of the Alpha Buff's reach is the same way.

The other two are just trying to keep a low profile and tend a hen when they don't think anyone is looking. Unfortunately, the hens are not yet receptive to the roos so they set up a squawk which alerts Alpha 1 and 2 to what is going on and then brace yourself.....

I try not to intervene until things get out of hand, multiple roosters ganging up on another rooster or a rooster getting cornered with no escape available. But like I said, the time has come to separate and hope things settle down.

 

[Nupe]

How many hens do you have? It may be a good idea to keep all the roos separate from the hens for a while until you decide who to keep. From personal experience I've found that raising the boys and girls of the same age together makes for rude roosters. They grow bigger and mature faster than the pullets and no "teachers" around to put them in their place when their hormones are raging. Also, young pullet's feathers are weak and brittle so no matter what, your roos are going to do a number on their backs and wing elbows. I ended up rehoming one of mine only to have my "docile" #2 roo (also a wellie) turn human aggressive and sent to freezer camp. This happened to me just after the hens started laying, so I think you haven't seen the worst of it yet.

 

[microchick]

I have a total of 12 hens, not nearly enough for 5 roosters. My original plan was for us to have a total of a dozen chickens. Two roos and 10 hens but mother nature has a really cruel sense of humor and three pullets decided they were boys. I've added 6 slightly younger pullets to the mix but I know realistically the original two is the right number. I might be able to stretch the odds a bit with three as long as those three are not constantly trying to kill one another like they are now. In all truthfulness, the Buff roosters are being far more aggressive with one another than the Welsummer boys are.

I knew at some point I was going to be facing this decision, which to keep with the hens and which to turn into bachelors. The one thing that would turn one of them into dog food is aggression towards my husband or myself. I keep a 6 foot long pole cut from a pine tree in the pen near the door. It was the top 6 feet off of the trunk of the young pine. I told my husband it was there for protection should one of the roos become aggressive towards him when he is in the pen. He said he didn't need a pole, he had a .22 in his pocket.....just in case. I told him he had my blessing to use it if the need arose.

IF the worst is yet to come, what factors do I look for in deciding which roosters are going to make it to the final two in chicken bachelorettes? I've raised chickens before but as stated, I've never had this problem with roosters. Guess I have just been lucky til now.

 

[microchick]

Just an update. I started a bachelor pad today but only got it framed out. For tonight, I was able to catch 3 of the 5 roos and put them in the coop we keep the younger hens in, and moved the juvies up to the main coop. I was surprised how drastically the degree of discourse dropped in the flock. No big battles this evening like the last few nights. There were a few cross words on the part of the hens concerning the juvies invading their turf but no blood drawn.

So the plan is to get the bachelor pad up and running and get the more hormonal roos confined.

I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen after that but we were at an Amish neighbors house today and I got to stand and watch 3 hens with chicks roaming around along with a Muscovey duck and her 8 newly hatched ducklings and a thought crossed my mind.

Maybe they wouldn't notice if a Buff O rooster or two magically showed up in the middle of the night...nah, couldn't do that their chickens were getting along.

 

[Nupe]

I'm still thinking that with 12 hens, you'd be better off with only one rooster, and I wouldn't add him until your flock is at least 1 year old, maybe 18 months. You want the hens old and mature enough that they understand the flock hierarchy, procreation and the general order of things as well as strong enough to demand proper behavior from their roo before allowing him to mate. Until then, your rooster(s) are just going to bully and submit them. Some people refer to it as rape and although the term "rape" isn't really a chicken concept, it's still not fun to watch, nor is seeing the damage it does to the hens. Honestly, I think it bothers humans more than it bothers the chickens. Some people put saddles on the hens to keep the damage to a minimum while allowing them to work it out themselves, and eventually they will.

If you plan on replenishing or expanding your flock, it may make more sense for you to either keep your extra roosters in their bachelor pad indefinitely or rehome them and then add a young roo with your next brood of pullets. You may even be able to add one of your older roos back to the flock once the young one is excepted among the hens as alpha. Once you have an established mature flock, the mature members will teach the youngins the order of things with much less teenage drama.

 

[microchick]

Yes, our hens seem a lot less stressed with the dominate Buff O's separated from the flock. At the moment the two Welsummers are still with the hens. The Buffs are making their lives miserable when I put them together, even with the hens out of the picture and the Wellies are gentler (so far) natured with us and with the hens even though their hormones kicked in two weeks earlier than the Buffs did. As Rhett Butler said in Gone With the Wind, I'm riding them with loose reins at the moment. The minute they act out with the hens they will be pulled also. Rehoming is a possibility but genetic diversity is high on my list when it comes to getting fertile eggs. I'm hoping that giving the hens a chance to mature without being harassed by these three determined roosters will solve the problem at hand. I realize that there will always be a couple three roos in the bachelor pen but hopefully I can rotate them around once things settle down. Has anyone ever done that with success?

 

[Nupe]

A hen will remain fertile for up to a month from one mating. So build a breeding pen, choose the hen(s) and the rooster you want to breed and stick them together for a few days. Remove the roo, and keep the hens separate, check egg fertility and when they are all consistently fertile, collect what you want to incubate, or stuff under a broody.

Keep in mind that if you will be breeding, you will have many many more roosters you are going to have to deal with, which is easy enough...

 

[aart]

At 16 weeks they are just getting started.