Will a divided coop/run allow me to keep extra roosters?

[Krissy23]

Hi, I have had a flock of 12 standard size hens for a couple years. I just got 5 silkie chicks about 2 months ago. This is the first time I have ever had to deal with the possibility of roosters. My husband is building the silkies their own separate coop, and I got the idea of having a divider in the middle with separate runs on each side so that I could keep more than one rooster. He is making it large enough for about 6 chickens on each side. Is this a good or bad idea? Should I just come to terms with having to part with roosters if I have more than one and have one large coop? What is best for the chickens? I just don't want to get rid of any of them if there is a way to manage them all somehow. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[TaylorGlade]

So, we are toying with the idea of a bachelor pad, as well. From my understanding, this only works if the roos can't see the little princesses on the other side - or they will fight.

I'm hoping someone else will weigh in on this. I know debate exists over bachelor pads and I would like to hear both sides as well.

 

[Krissy23]

I know this is the last coop and run that my husband is going to build. So my only option is to divide this one into 2 if it will work. We can make it so they don't see each other but they will definitely hear each other.

 

[TaylorGlade]

I know this is the last coop and run that my husband is going to build. So my only option is to divide this one into 2 if it will work. We can make it so they don't see each other but they will definitely hear each other.

That's what I'm worried about as well - the hearing part. But chickens have good hearing. They would have to be a long away apart to NOT hear each other. I'm not sure though. I haven't done it before.

 

[Cockadoodledinos]

Hi, I have had a flock of 12 standard size hens for a couple years. I just got 5 silkie chicks about 2 months ago. This is the first time I have ever had to deal with the possibility of roosters. My husband is building the silkies their own separate coop, and I got the idea of having a divider in the middle with separate runs on each side so that I could keep more than one rooster. He is making it large enough for about 6 chickens on each side. Is this a good or bad idea? Should I just come to terms with having to part with roosters if I have more than one and have one large coop? What is best for the chickens? I just don't want to get rid of any of them if there is a way to manage them all somehow. Any advice is appreciated.

Silkie roos in my experience are more tolerant of each other than most breeds. I currently have three silkie roos, two are brothers and the third is unrelated. They get along fine, no sparring that I've seen, and they all range and roost together. Each has a few hens that follow him around, his own girls good luck with yours!

 

[Krissy23]

Silkie roos in my experience are more tolerant of each other than most breeds. I currently have three silkie roos, two are brothers and the third is unrelated. They get along fine, no sparring that I've seen, and they all range and roost together. Each has a few hens that follow him around, his own girls good luck with yours!

That is what I was hoping to hear! Thanks for your response!

 

[Cockadoodledinos]

That is what I was hoping to hear! Thanks for your response!

One of my silkies has claimed several of the standard hens as his girls... Having at least a few ladies for each fella might help, if you aren't set on keeping them separated by breed. At least with my standard hens I think they prefer the smaller males to the bigger, rougher roos we had before.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Unfortunately the answer is "It depends". Each chicken has its own personality. Regardless of breed or sex some get along with others better than some. I cannot tell with any hope of being right what will happen with your particular chickens or set-up. I will make a suggestion that gives you some flexibility to handle whatever happens.

Set this new coop/run up so you can divide it if you need to. You never know when you might need to isolate one of your other hens from their flock. Something like this can come in handy for integrating new chickens. But build it so you can open a gate between the two half-runs and let them use all of it when you don't need to isolate one or some.

Consider doing the same thing with that coop. The coop will be harder since you need to be able to reach all of it for cleaning, to gather eggs that may be laid in strange places, or to catch a chicken that doesn't want to be caught. When I did something like this I built a totally separated coop/shelter that I could open or close as needed so permanently dividing that coop might not be a bad idea. Just set it up so the coop section is only used when needed but give them access to all of the run area when you can.

 

[Krissy23]

Unfortunately the answer is "It depends". Each chicken has its own personality. Regardless of breed or sex some get along with others better than some. I cannot tell with any hope of being right what will happen with your particular chickens or set-up. I will make a suggestion that gives you some flexibility to handle whatever happens.

Set this new coop/run up so you can divide it if you need to. You never know when you might need to isolate one of your other hens from their flock. Something like this can come in handy for integrating new chickens. But build it so you can open a gate between the two half-runs and let them use all of it when you don't need to isolate one or some.

Consider doing the same thing with that coop. The coop will be harder since you need to be able to reach all of it for cleaning, to gather eggs that may be laid in strange places, or to catch a chicken that doesn't want to be caught. When I did something like this I built a totally separated coop/shelter that I could open or close as needed so permanently dividing that coop might not be a bad idea. Just set it up so the coop section is only used when needed but give them access to all of the run area when you can.

I plan for the divider to be able to be removed and replaced as needed. I just wasn't sure if this was a good plan or not. I like the idea of also having a separate place for other needs as well. Thank you for your input!

 

[Mrs. K]

Roosters are a crap shoot. There really is no directions, rules or even space set ups that can absolutely produce harmonious flocks. I have been in the game a long time, and while there are a lot of good ideas, they only have a 'kind of, sort of, or not at all' results. And what is harder to come to grips with, 'is yesterday everything was fine, working well, and today is a nightmare.'

My advice is only keep roosters if you can cull birds. A lot of roosters just do not work out and have ruined the whole chicken keeping experience for a lot of people.

The more roosters you keep, the greater the chance of it going wrong.

Good luck, roosters take a lot of luck. Personally I hate cock fighting, but it does not seem to bother a lot of people.

Mrs K