Henhouse Saga & Dilemma - Advice Please?

[TJ]

Hello, I have 2 roosters and 13 hens, all fancy/rare breeds and all standard size. One rooster and half the hens are 6 months old while the other rooster and half the hens are 7 months old but all raised together.
I have a black polish rooster who is 7 months old and very sweet and very good to the girls. The hens love him.
Rooster no. 2 is a blue & black cochin rooster who is 6 months old and was purchased with 5 cochin hens. The problem is the cochin rooster is trying to mate but he’s choosing the smallish Polish hens and they fear him, he grabs them by their feathered hats and some are missing feathers. The Cochin girls have no interest in him and he rarely mates with them. I saw him once try to mate with my buff Brahma hen but he fell off and he ran behind the hen house in shame. I also have a jubilee Orpington and a black speckled Orpington that love the polish rooster and avoid the Cochin rooster.
With 13 hens I’m lucky if I get 2 eggs a day, my polish girls are getting their feathers pulled, my cochin rooster seems to be lonely and my polish rooster is floating on cloud nine because he’s got pick of any girl.
Lastly, the roosters get along!
So I’m at a dilemma here … should I just wait to see how this pans out since they all are 6 & 7 months old? Should I sell my gorgeous cochin rooster so my polish hens can live without fear of getting pounced on? Do I have too many chickens? Can you tell I’m spiraling?
Our chicken house is 10 X 12 and we have a large covered attached run.
If you made it this far in my little henhouse saga, I thank you! Any advice is appreciated!
Warmly,
tj

*Pretty Boy Floyd looking for

 

[sourland]

He's a cockerel - not a rooster. He's just a teenager with hormones running high. I'd remove both cockerels from the flock until they and the pullets mature. I suggest both because if you just separate the Cochin there would be reintegration problems.

 

[TJ]

He's a cockerel - not a rooster. He's just a teenager with hormones running high. I'd remove both cockerels from the flock until they and the pullets mature. I suggest both because if you just separate the Cochin there would be reintegration problems.

Hi sourland, okay that’s good to hear. I kinda had a feeling it was just hormones but I just wanted to be certain. Thank you for the advice!

 

[Mrs. K]

Well, it is not like they are 4 months old. I think that would be good advice of pulling the roosters if they were both raising hell with all of the girls and they were 3&4 months of age. You are past that.

You are not going to get pure bred chicks unless the groups are separated. If you are going to go with two flocks, well then you could wait and see. But the girls seem to be picking one rooster over the other one, I would go with that. I like a peaceful flock. With a dozen birds you do not need two roosters. And two roosters cause a lot of drama in most back yard flocks, even with enough room.

I think that if you remove a rooster from your flock, you will be amazed at how much tension was IN your flock once it is gone. I was in a very similar situation a year ago, and could not believe how it dropped when one rooster was culled. It seemed like the girls could just devote themselves to one rooster. Less stress all the way around.

I would let one go,

Mrs K

 

[TJ]

Well, it is not like they are 4 months old. I think that would be good advice of pulling the roosters if they were both raising hell with all of the girls and they were 3&4 months of age. You are past that.

You are not going to get pure bred chicks unless the groups are separated. If you are going to go with two flocks, well then you could wait and see. But the girls seem to be picking one rooster over the other one, I would go with that. I like a peaceful flock. With a dozen birds you do not need two roosters. And two roosters cause a lot of drama in most back yard flocks, even with enough room.

I think that if you remove a rooster from your flock, you will be amazed at how much tension was IN your flock once it is gone. I was in a very similar situation a year ago, and could not believe how it dropped when one rooster was culled. It seemed like the girls could just devote themselves to one rooster. Less stress all the way around.

I would let one go,

Mrs K

Thank you Mrs. K! I’ve had multiple roosters/cockerels and always trimmed them down to one but this is the first time that I’ve had two get along so well. The big hens are getting big enough where the Polish roo isn’t able to mount them so he sticks to the Polish hens for the most part. I just keep hoping that the larger hens will start going with the cochin roo, eventually.
With all that being said, I’m going to give them more time and see how it goes. I know in time that they’ll tell me who has to go, or not. I just wanted to see if anyone had this happen to them.