Is two roos one too many for 13 hens??

[LtDanFan]

Regarding the hatching eggs thing; I bet you still could without having a full time roo!…. he breeds them, you have eggs. Once he's becoming an issue he's re-homed... Rinse and repeat!

THATS EXACTLY what i was hoping to do. If there weren’t extenuating circumstances, i wouldn’t have a problem culling them. In fact, that was my plan until life intervened.

…having them only for a few months would get heavy on the heart. Although, it's also neat that it'd be a sort of lineage/heritage (may need to bring in new stock periodically to avoid inbreeding, not sure how much is too much).

Yes, but if i knew from the start his fate was the dinner plate it would be easier. I am practical about animals in general being food and i am very grateful for their existence and sacrifice and i want their short lives to be humane but since one survived a literal hellfire and the other was ordered on purpose its a bit more of a struggle to remain detached. I’m probably more of a softie than i should be but so be it.

There is a local breeder of CCL’s (from whom I purchased the initial hatching eggs) so perhaps i could serve as an outlet one or two of her unwanted cockerels but i was just trying to figure out a way to keep both the boys if they both if they both turn out to be decent. Trying to make the chicken math work in my favor!! Haha.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

If chickening has taught me nothing else, it’s that life isn’t simple.

And only later have I realized that believing that life=simple means that I have attempted to control how life happens, and when the universe gently chuckles at me and says nah, it’s a well-deserved lesson in humility. Because in fact, I’m not the boss.

Pretty rando there, sorry!

 

[LtDanFan]

If chickening has taught me nothing else, it’s that life isn’t simple.

I love this!! I will definitely use the term “chickening” when speaking about my life to family members from now on.


And when it comes to life, and chickens and ducks and even my life, i am most definitely NOT the boss, as much as i or others think i am.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think your real problem is that you are in the darling stage with the cockerels. I love the darling stage. They are bright, curious, unafraid, interested in the world... just darling.

This stage is loads of fun, but it does not last. Many people write on here wanting to know how to go back to that. It is a done deal.

When they get out of that stage, well it becomes easier to make decisions for the benefit of the flock.

And if crowing and the neighbors and the rules are the problem, separate coops won't help.

Enjoy them now.

Mrs K

 

[LtDanFan]

I think your real problem is that you are in the darling stage with the cockerels. I love the darling stage. They are bright, curious, unafraid, interested in the world... just darling.

This stage is loads of fun, but it does not last. Many people write on here wanting to know how to go back to that. It is a done deal.

When they get out of that stage, well it becomes easier to make decisions for the benefit of the flock.

And if crowing and the neighbors and the rules are the problem, separate coops won't help.

Enjoy them now.

Mrs K

I will, and if i need to i will make a decision for the benefit of the flock and our household. It’ll be hard but i already have a person willing to butcher them for me if need be. I’d love to keep then both but if they become a$$holes i will swiftly rid myself of them. Maybe my saving grace will be that i work overnights, so they will be locked up at dusk, or shortly thereafter and not let out until long after daylight (when most of my neighbors will be at work already). A girl can dream, right?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm trying to figure out what you have. I think you have four pullets 6 months old, four pullets and a cockerel 10 weeks old, and five pullets and a cockerel 5 weeks old so a total of 15 chickens. Your run is 400 square feet, 10' x 40' or 20' x 20', something like that. I don't know how big your 2 coops are or how they are positioned relative to each other or the run. It sounds like you are going to increase the number of chickens later. This doesn't sound all that bad once they grow up. You may have some challenges integrating as they grow up and go through puberty but you can probably handle those. If you build a new coop I suggest building one big enough to handle all of the chickens you plan to have and keep one or both of the small ones to help with integration, broody hens, or a place to isolate an injured chickens if necessary.

I think your main question is about the two cockerels that are 5 weeks apart in age. Initially, the older will dominate the younger as they mature. But once the younger reaches a certain maturity they will decide which one is boss. That usually involves fighting. It could be a fight to the death. Often, it doesn't take that long before one decides running away is better than a fight to the death, specifically his death. If he has enough room to run away and get away he often survives and they work out an accommodation to jointly take care of the flock. Often does not mean always but the more room they have the better. I'd consider opening up more of the yard for them sooner rather than later. That will improve your odds of success.

One common resolution (though not the only one possible) is that each male has his own territory so they can stay separated. The females decide which male they want to hang with. Some may decide neither and form their own subflock. I don't care. My goal in all of this is simply that no one gets hurt however they manage that. Typically all eggs are fertilized and you can never be sure which male is the actual father, even with the girls that hang with a specific rooster.

Until your baby cockerels mature the older pullets will dominate them. At some point the cockerels will mature enough to want to mate them and dominate them. Sometimes that is a pretty peaceful process, often it involves a lot of brute force. If you and the flock can make it through that process it usually settles down when they all mature, but if can be very stressful for them and you while that is going on. A lot of people decide during the cockerels' and pullets' puberty that they really don't want a male in the flock.

I do not know how it will work out for you. We all get different results and we all handle stresses differently. As long as no one is getting injured I can usually just let them go but there have been times I've removed boys and girls because it gets too rough even for me.

Good luck!

 

[SamLockwood]

It depends

I will preface this with technically i am not supposed to have roosters where I am. So if i need to get rid of them both so be it, but given the circumstances, i’d like to explore ways to keep both.
Here’s the make up of the flock:
1 creamlegbar cockrel raised with 2 BYM (i think) pullets and 2 cream legbar pullets. Four 6-month-old hens (two of which are regularly laying, one that is a meat bird and one crippled hen i took in cause she needed a safe place) and 5 pullets plus 1 cream legbar cockrel still in the brooder but getting ready to be introduced to the wider world in the next 1-2 weeks (they are about 5 weeks old)
After introducing the first two groups, they all coop up together at night but essentially exist as two different flocks during the day when allowed free access to the chicken yard.
Because i am kind of a softie and the oldest cockrel survived a fire (I thought all the CCL’s that survived were pullets but surprise, hes clearly made from roo material) and i purchased the younger one because i thought all my CCL’s were pullets and i wanted to try to get hatching eggs before he got too loud and obnoxious, i am torn as to which one to keep if i can only keep one.
Ultimately, i know I may need to re-home or repurpose both, but id love to hear other views on how small flocks (13 hens total) work with 2 roosters. If my short history repeats itself, i will have 3 mini-flocks and the two roosters will stick to their own “ladies”, only fighting over or ignoring completely, the older (4) hens, only 2 of whom are currently laying and receptive based on squatting behavior.
The older cockrel is a little more flighty than the younger one, the younger one having needed eye drops as a young chick for conjunctivitis and getting handled several times a day.

 

[McChooky]

Th older one was hatched April 21st and the younger one (still in the brooder at this time) was hatched out may 28th. I am not renting and i am on about 1/3 acre but it’s in a subdivision so i have neighbors. If the boys become loud and disruptive, they will have to go unfortunately. I was just hoping to get a generation or two of purebred cream legbar hatching eggs before they do.
Right now there are 2 coops (we will likely build another one, but only to replace the small cheaply made pre-fab one we bought when we started, so we can design it to better fit the flock’s needs and the weather) and i don’t seeing having any less than that. There are 2 ladders for outside roosting and hanging out and 400 sq feet but i hope to be able to give them half the yard to free range in with the ducks during the day at some point in the future.
Guess i am in a holding pattern, i just wanted to make sure i was not setting them up for failure by having too few hens and too little space for 2 Roos.

I had 2 I raised from chicks and waited a year before deciding which one to keep. Now I only have 1 rooster and 12 hens and life is good again.My advise is keep it simple and always strive for peace in the flock.The 12 I have now look better than any I had then.Having 2 roosters made them compete for the hens and their backs showed it.Btw mine never fought until I gave all the hens to one of them.
I only have 8 hens in my main flock and I also have a hen only flock of 4.He has forced them to mate occasionally but for the most part he leaves them alone .He won't let the hen only flock near his flock of 8 but they all free range at the same time in separate areas

 

[McChooky]

I'm trying to figure out what you have. I think you have four pullets 6 months old, four pullets and a cockerel 10 weeks old, and five pullets and a cockerel 5 weeks old so a total of 15 chickens. Your run is 400 square feet, 10' x 40' or 20' x 20', something like that. I don't know how big your 2 coops are or how they are positioned relative to each other or the run. It sounds like you are going to increase the number of chickens later. This doesn't sound all that bad once they grow up. You may have some challenges integrating as they grow up and go through puberty but you can probably handle those. If you build a new coop I suggest building one big enough to handle all of the chickens you plan to have and keep one or both of the small ones to help with integration, broody hens, or a place to isolate an injured chickens if necessary.

I think your main question is about the two cockerels that are 5 weeks apart in age. Initially, the older will dominate the younger as they mature. But once the younger reaches a certain maturity they will decide which one is boss. That usually involves fighting. It could be a fight to the death. Often, it doesn't take that long before one decides running away is better than a fight to the death, specifically his death. If he has enough room to run away and get away he often survives and they work out an accommodation to jointly take care of the flock. Often does not mean always but the more room they have the better. I'd consider opening up more of the yard for them sooner rather than later. That will improve your odds of success.

One common resolution (though not the only one possible) is that each male has his own territory so they can stay separated. The females decide which male they want to hang with. Some may decide neither and form their own subflock. I don't care. My goal in all of this is simply that no one gets hurt however they manage that. Typically all eggs are fertilized and you can never be sure which male is the actual father, even with the girls that hang with a specific rooster.

Until your baby cockerels mature the older pullets will dominate them. At some point the cockerels will mature enough to want to mate them and dominate them. Sometimes that is a pretty peaceful process, often it involves a lot of brute force. If you and the flock can make it through that process it usually settles down when they all mature, but if can be very stressful for them and you while that is going on. A lot of people decide during the cockerels' and pullets' puberty that they really don't want a male in the flock.

I do not know how it will work out for you. We all get different results and we all handle stresses differently. As long as no one is getting injured I can usually just let them go but there have been times I've removed boys and girls because it gets too rough even for me.

Good luck!

Well stated! Too many roosters in the puberty stage can cause gray hair!

 

[Ozarkchick23]

The way I see it, you're only keeping both if they both behave. Towards you, towards the ladies, and towards each other. On paper, it looks like too few hens for 2 roosters, but the only way you'll know is to let it play out. Maybe one isn't so interested in mating. Or maybe one is a total jerk! Then the choice is clear.

Hens will not like 2 roosters. That means hens will be subject to twice the amount of rooster activity. You want a quiet hen house, one rooster. The older the roosters get the more fighting will happen. Pick the quieter one.