Would having to Roosters Sharing The Same Coop With 22 Hens be Okay?

[HUGEPurplePuppy]

Hello, I'm planning on getting chicks very soon and am trying to decided what to do. I'm ordering from Hover's Hatchery and have chosen quite the variety. I have 14 hens that I'm planning to order and 1 rooster. I also already have 8 adult hens. I don't really want two roosters, but that might be what I get.

I really really really want a Cochin. I had a Cochin rooster when I was younger and I really love them. The problem is that HH only has Cochin's for sale unsexed, so I have a 50/50 of getting another rooster. Of course there is also always the possibility one of my other 'hens' turn out to be roosters.

I have an 85 square foot coop with a 286 square foot run. I plan on expanding the coop this spring/summer by 12-26 sqft (12-16 sqft more likely, but we'll see how it goes). The run is secure so (when it's not freezing outside) I plan on just leaving the door out into the run open so they can freely enter/exit. I also plan on free ranging (part of the reason I want a rooster). If I had to, I also could move the food containers outside to give about 20 sqft more space inside the coop, but I would really prefer not to.

So am I doomed to fail if I risk this unsexed Cochin? Or is there something I can easily change to make it work?
Also, if worst comes to worst and the roosters don't mingle well, will one rooster be okay on its own? I have a large enough property that I could probably make him his own little home decently far away from the rest of the flock, but I don't know if I would be able to free range him due to how far it seems these girls like to wander.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello, I'm planning on getting chicks very soon and am trying to decided what to do. I'm ordering from Hover's Hatchery and have chosen quite the variety. I have 14 hens that I'm planning to order and 1 rooster. I also already have 8 adult hens. I don't really want two roosters, but that might be what I get.

I really really really want a Cochin. I had a Cochin rooster when I was younger and I really love them. The problem is that HH only has Cochin's for sale unsexed, so I have a 50/50 of getting another rooster. Of course there is also always the possibility one of my other 'hens' turn out to be roosters.

I have an 85 square foot coop with a 286 square foot run. I plan on expanding the coop this spring/summer by 12-26 sqft (12-16 sqft more likely, but we'll see how it goes). The run is secure so (when it's not freezing outside) I plan on just leaving the door out into the run open so they can freely enter/exit. I also plan on free ranging (part of the reason I want a rooster). If I had to, I also could move the food containers outside to give about 20 sqft more space inside the coop, but I would really prefer not to.

So am I doomed to fail if I risk this unsexed Cochin? Or is there something I can easily change to make it work?
Also, if worst comes to worst and the roosters don't mingle well, will one rooster be okay on its own? I have a large enough property that I could probably make him his own little home decently far away from the rest of the flock, but I don't know if I would be able to free range him due to how far it seems these girls like to wander.

If both males start off in your flock as same age day old chicks, they will likely work things out as they will grow up together. One will be dominant, the other submissive. You have enough space to make it work but expanding to give more space is always better.

How much roost space do you have in linear feet? Do you have a lot of things in the run for hiding or getting out of the way of higher ranking birds?

Do you plan to brood in the coop? That is a big advantage as you can start integrating chicks as early as 4 weeks old.

The chicks on the right of the roost are 7 weeks old but had been fully integrated for over a week when this image was taken and started to integrate at 4.5 weeks. They were brooded as day old chicks in a built-in brooder in the coop within full view of the adults.
There is a rooster in the adult flock and a cockerel in the chick flock. They live together today just fine.

 

[RaineyTN]

Depends on the birds, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. If it doesn’t work just get rid of the extra cockerels

 

[Folly's place]

When you get cockerels, and it happens sometimes even with a 'pullet only' order, decisions have to be made as they mature. There's no telling how each will grow up, or who will or won't get along, or who might decide to attack people.
As a group, Cochins tend to be good with humans, but it's still an individual thing with each bird. Have a Plan B, and maybe Plan C too!
It's often best to rehome or eat excess cockerels, or at least consider that's a real possibility. Do you eat chicken? Your birds will have a better life than those meat birds!
Chickens are social animals who need flockmates, so having separate flocks in separate coops can work, but roosters in solitary confinement aren't having great lives.
Mary

 

[HUGEPurplePuppy]

If both males start off in your flock as same age day old chicks, they will likely work things out as they will grow up together. One will be dominant, the other submissive.

How much roost space do you have in linear feet? Do you have a lot of things in the run for hiding or getting out of the way of higher ranking birds?

Do you plan to brood in the coop? That is a big advantage as you can start integrating chicks as early as 4 weeks old.

The chicks on the right of the roost are 7 weeks old but had been fully integrated for over a week and started to integrate at 4.5 weeks. They were brooded as day old chicks in a built-in brooder in the coop within full view of the adults.
There is a rooster in the adult flock and a cockerel in the chick flock. They live together today just fine.
View attachment 2038047

Currently I only have 15 feet of roosting space, which I know isn't enough, I plan on building some new ones soon (before chicks get here). I'll post a picture of my run in a second. Don't have a better picture right now but I do have some branches. What kind of things would you suggest?

I've really been contemplating doing that, but I've been trying to figure out the logistics of it. How exactly did you do it?

 

[365username]

Hello, I'm planning on getting chicks very soon and am trying to decided what to do. I'm ordering from Hover's Hatchery and have chosen quite the variety. I have 14 hens that I'm planning to order and 1 rooster. I also already have 8 adult hens. I don't really want two roosters, but that might be what I get.

I really really really want a Cochin. I had a Cochin rooster when I was younger and I really love them. The problem is that HH only has Cochin's for sale unsexed, so I have a 50/50 of getting another rooster. Of course there is also always the possibility one of my other 'hens' turn out to be roosters.

I have an 85 square foot coop with a 286 square foot run. I plan on expanding the coop this spring/summer by 12-26 sqft (12-16 sqft more likely, but we'll see how it goes). The run is secure so (when it's not freezing outside) I plan on just leaving the door out into the run open so they can freely enter/exit. I also plan on free ranging (part of the reason I want a rooster). If I had to, I also could move the food containers outside to give about 20 sqft more space inside the coop, but I would really prefer not to.

So am I doomed to fail if I risk this unsexed Cochin? Or is there something I can easily change to make it work?
Also, if worst comes to worst and the roosters don't mingle well, will one rooster be okay on its own? I have a large enough property that I could probably make him his own little home decently far away from the rest of the flock, but I don't know if I would be able to free range him due to how far it seems these girls like to wander.

22 hens should be enough, I had 7 roosters in the same coop for awhile with 10 hens and they where fine never fought until a new chicken came.

 

[DobieLover]

Currently I only have 15 feet of roosting space, which I know isn't enough, I plan on building some new ones soon (before chicks get here). I'll post a picture of my run in a second. Don't have a better picture right now but I do have some branches. What kind of things would you suggest?

I've really been contemplating doing that, but I've been trying to figure out the logistics of it. How exactly did you do it?

You can add pallets leaning on the walls of the run so birds can hide under them, multilevel branches, logs, etc.

You can click on the My Coop link under my name to access the article for how I did my built-in brooder and run. And ideas about how you might be able to get more roosting space.

Can you post pictures of the interior of your coop?

 

[HUGEPurplePuppy]

Currently I only have 15 feet of roosting space, which I know isn't enough, I plan on building some new ones soon (before chicks get here). I'll post a picture of my run in a second. Don't have a better picture right now but I do have some branches. What kind of things would you suggest?

I've really been contemplating doing that, but I've been trying to figure out the logistics of it. How exactly did you do it?

If both males start off in your flock as same age day old chicks, they will likely work things out as they will grow up together. One will be dominant, the other submissive. You have enough space to make it work but expanding to give more space is always better.

How much roost space do you have in linear feet? Do you have a lot of things in the run for hiding or getting out of the way of higher ranking birds?

Do you plan to brood in the coop? That is a big advantage as you can start integrating chicks as early as 4 weeks old.

The chicks on the right of the roost are 7 weeks old but had been fully integrated for over a week when this image was taken and started to integrate at 4.5 weeks. They were brooded as day old chicks in a built-in brooder in the coop within full view of the adults.
There is a rooster in the adult flock and a cockerel in the chick flock. They live together today just fine.
View attachment 2038047

 

[DobieLover]

View attachment 2038062

How tall is that?

 

[HUGEPurplePuppy]

Currently I only have 15 feet of roosting space, which I know isn't enough, I plan on building some new ones soon (before chicks get here). I'll post a picture of my run in a second. Don't have a better picture right now but I do have some branches. What kind of things would you suggest?

I've really been contemplating doing that, but I've been trying to figure out the logistics of it. How exactly did you do it?

If both males start off in your flock as same age day old chicks, they will likely work things out as they will grow up together. One will be dominant, the other submissive. You have enough space to make it work but expanding to give more space is always better.

How much roost space do you have in linear feet? Do you have a lot of things in the run for hiding or getting out of the way of higher ranking birds?

Do you plan to brood in the coop? That is a big advantage as you can start integrating chicks as early as 4 weeks old.

The chicks on the right of the roost are 7 weeks old but had been fully integrated for over a week when this image was taken and started to integrate at 4.5 weeks. They were brooded as day old chicks in a built-in brooder in the coop within full view of the adults.
There is a rooster in the adult flock and a cockerel in the chick flock. They live together today just fine.
View attachment 2038047

You can click on the My Coop link under my name to access the article. And ideas about how you might be able to get more roosting space. Can you post pictures of the interior of your coop?

When you get cockerels, and it happens sometimes even with a 'pullet only' order, decisions have to be made as they mature. There's no telling how each will grow up, or who will or won't get along, or who might decide to attack people.
As a group, Cochins tend to be good with humans, but it's still an individual thing with each bird. Have a Plan B, and maybe Plan C too!
It's often best to rehome or eat excess cockerels, or at least consider that's a real possibility. Do you eat chicken? Your birds will have a better life than those meat birds!
Chickens are social animals who need flockmates, so having separate flocks in separate coops can work, but roosters in solitary confinement aren't having great lives.
Mary

That's what I figured. I do eat chicken, but I can't really imagine killing one of my own chickens (I know bad), but I do have a neighbor I know who would do it for me. I would really hate to make that decision.

I do kinda have a plan B. We haven't gotten a tractor or any equipment yet so the barn is empty, I could clean that up as a temporary coop, but it would only be a short term solution to by me more time.