would it be cruel to have a pen of roosters and a pen of hens?

[anderson8505]

Thanks OP for posting this. I've seen a few other people mention having bachelor's pens and I am thinking about doing the same. I love roosters and if they can get along with one another in a separate pen, why not keep them?

 

[tsmith1499]

I have also read on this site that the whole 8-10 number for hens was for COMMERCIAL breeders, not necessarilly backyard flocks. At least that's what I have read. It could be wrong, but I do know people that have 3-4 and a Roo and they are fine.

 

[bobbi-j]

I had 6 brahma roos in a pen by themselves. After establishing their pecking order, they were fine.

 

[azygous]

You probably have enough posts now in favor of bachelor pens to be of comfort. But here's my story.

A few years ago, I had only one roo and he decimated to backs and shoulders of all the hens. I built a little "guard shack" just outside the run for him to shelter in so I could spare the hens his rough ways. And I partitioned off one end of the coop because he was knocking the hens off the perch at roosting time trying to mount them.

Then I ended up with two cockerels out of a batch of nine new chicks. I got busy and built a rooster coop and a bachelor pen. The adult roo died and I thought life would be a lot simpler, but the two cockerels hit maturity and decided they hated each other to the point of mayhem.

The ultimate solution was to build another bachelor pen and partition the rooster coop down the middle. All the pens share common walls with the hens so the boys are able to keep up continual communication with the girls without the girls needing to suffer from their attentions. If I want some fertilized eggs, a hen gets to have visitation privileges in a bachelor pen, and there are broody nests in one of the rooster coops.

All of this took a lot of problem solving and planning, but my bottom line is to keep my hens separate so they don't have to be subjected to constant battering, and some of them plainly hate the roos.

My roos don't appear to be suffering any cruelty, and in fact, seem to be pretty content and normal roos. And I'm very happy, also.

 

[sourland]

Not cruel at all and a heck of a lot safer for the hens.

 

[GoldenSparrow]

Thanks all!

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Hen saddles have their use, I suppose, but they do get dirty quickly and need washing. They can also come adrift, requiring catching up the hen to rearange the saddle. The constant off and on gets old, in my humble opinion. Some girly girls, that enjoy playing dress up might get along well with them, unless they have a rooster that gets in their face every time you make his hen scream.

A little more trivia for ya. The "recommended ratio" of 1 rooster to 10 hens is the max for fertilized eggs, not for hen safety. Now I know that some cocks are able to keep 15 or so hens fertile, but some just aren`t up to 10. Ten is a good number for an average.

One more thing while I`m dispelling myths. Almost without exception, it`s the cockeral that overbreeds the hens/pullets. Once a rooster becomes a fully matured cock, he is vastly more civilized and treats his women with respect. It`s the youngster that causes all the trouble by acting like a teenage boy with raging hormones.

Now, like azygous said, they may decide they hate their buddy that they grew up with and always got along with. That`s very probable in some breeds, but others are OK with batchelor pads. Wait and see. Ya gotta do whatcha gotta do.........Merry Christmas........Pop

 

[GoldenSparrow]

Thanks Lollipop!