Seeking Advice: Young Rooster in Flock with Older Rooster

[Anon112]

I have a small flock (1 rooster, 4 hens) who are all about a year old. One of the hens, Brenda, hatched out some eggs and I now have 3 chickens who are about 8 weeks old. I'm almost positive that one of the younglings is a rooster.

What is the protocol here? Is there a chance that they can all live peacefully (I know that 6 hens and 2 roosters is not a good ratio, and I would need to add more hens)?

As of now, the older rooster, Monroe, seems to mostly ignore the littles. He's had some good rooster dad moments with them, but at this point the older chickens don't really pay much attention to the babies.

I guess I have two main concerns:

1) If Monroe does get aggressive with the young one, is that something that would scale up over time? Or is it more like a switch flips one day?

2) Is there a chance that they do end up getting along okay---probably with the addition of more hens---or is that a crazy pipe dream? I recently integrated two of my other "miniflocks" (they have been in sight of each other for years and free range together, but are kept separate when confined to the run), and have been really pleased with how well the roosters are getting along. If it could work, at what point would I add more hens?

Thank you for any thoughts/advice!

(I'm not a cull/give-away person. If it won't work, I have a plan to create another run where the little rooster could live with some hens, but obviously it would be nice if it could work out).

 

[rural mouse]

Check out this article for some ideas, thoughts, observations, and useful knowledge.


Article 'Understanding Your Rooster.' https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

 

[Buckeye Amy]

You may as well go ahead and build your next structure. The older male will tolerate the youngster for a while, but once he hits sexual maturity that will likely end. I've got a 2 month old cockerel in with my 11 month old cockerel. The baby is not a threat, so he is ignored by the mature male. That won't last though.

 

[Anon112]

Check out this article for some ideas, thoughts, observations, and useful knowledge.


Article 'Understanding Your Rooster.' https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

Thank you! I did several searches before posting this thread, but must not have been using the correct word combos.

You may as well go ahead and build your next structure. The older male will tolerate the youngster for a while, but once he hits sexual maturity that will likely end. I've got a 2 month old cockerel in with my 11 month old cockerel. The baby is not a threat, so he is ignored by the mature male. That won't last though.

Ha! Yes, I have many of the materials ready to go. I'm envisioning basically building an extension onto the existing run.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It might help you to read this thread. It has comments from people that have had it work, not just from failures.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/is-two-roos-one-too-many-for-13-hens.1669022/

1) If Monroe does get aggressive with the young one, is that something that would scale up over time? Or is it more like a switch flips one day?

It could be either. It's not just that the older could be the one getting aggressive. The younger could mature to the point that he initiates hostilities.

2) Is there a chance that they do end up getting along okay---probably with the addition of more hens---or is that a crazy pipe dream? I recently integrated two of my other "miniflocks" (they have been in sight of each other for years and free range together, but are kept separate when confined to the run), and have been really pleased with how well the roosters are getting along.

You can get different outcomes. It is possible they can get along, working together to protect the flock. They may fight to the death. If they do get along, they will know which one is the boss. That could be done fairly peacefully but often it involves some pretty intense fighting.

Something very important to this being successful is that they have a lot of room. When fighting, if one decides it is important to run away they need enough room to run away and stay away. Otherwise the winner doesn't realize he won and may continue attacking and trying to kill the other.

Sometimes the males will stay together in the same flock. I had that happen once, but often it means splitting the girls. Each male claims a certain territory and the girls decide which one they want to be with. This means it helps to have enough room that they can claim different territories. It sounds like it is probably working this way with your current mature roosters.

If it could work, at what point would I add more hens?

Roosters will fight over 20 hens as fast as they will fight over 2. Some people believe you are guaranteed to have barebacked hens or stressed out over-mated hens unless you have a lot of hens for each male. What are you seeing with your one rooster and four hens?

If you want more hens then get more hens and add them at whatever ages and however you want to. Do not add them thinking it will stop the problems if you even have problems. Add them only if you want more. You will still go through the same stuff but you may be adding an integration to your issues.

(I'm not a cull/give-away person. If it won't work, I have a plan to create another run where the little rooster could live with some hens, but obviously it would be nice if it could work out).

Then I suggest you consider not hatching any more eggs because you will be getting additional males. Or come up with a way to manage several males.

 

[Anon112]

Sometimes the males will stay together in the same flock. I had that happen once, but often it means splitting the girls. Each male claims a certain territory and the girls decide which one they want to be with. This means it helps to have enough room that they can claim different territories. It sounds like it is probably working this way with your current mature roosters.

Yes, with the boys who are getting along well there are two distinct "zones" with separate roosts, feeders, waterers, etc. Each rooster has his "side" where he tends to hang out more.

Then I suggest you consider not hatching any more eggs because you will be getting additional males. Or come up with a way to manage several males.

Yes, this is not something I plan on doing often. It was really fun watching the hens do their things (I actually had two broody hens at the same time). I've also done some reading on setting up a "bachelor pad" because with two sets of straight run chicks, I was anticipating possibly a few roosters. But that doesn't seem like a very nice thing to do to just one rooster.

What I think I'm realizing is that, no matter what, I need to add an extension to my existing set up. That way it's either an enlarged space for each rooster to have his own territory OR it's a way to house two separate flocks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What I think I'm realizing is that, no matter what, I need to add an extension to my existing set up. That way it's either an enlarged space for each rooster to have his own territory OR it's a way to house two separate flocks.

I find it beneficial to have a place set up where I can isolate one or more chickens if I need to. That can come in handy with managing a broody hen, for integration, when checking them for mites or lice, or to isolate a sick or injured chicken. Just a way to keep them separated, short term of long term.

 

[Anon112]

I find it beneficial to have a place set up where I can isolate one or more chickens if I need to. That can come in handy with managing a broody hen, for integration, when checking them for mites or lice, or to isolate a sick or injured chicken. Just a way to keep them separated, short term of long term.

I have a medium sized dog crate in my barn, and I have a large dog crate actually in the chicken run.

But having another, larger area will be nothing but beneficial.

 

[Folly's place]

About dog crates: Have any dog crate set up either in the coop, or in a predator proof area, not in a normal barn, where raccoons or other predators can attack the trapped bird.
Mary

 

[Anon112]

About dog crates: Have any dog crate set up either in the coop, or in a predator proof area, not in a normal barn, where raccoons or other predators can attack the trapped bird.
Mary

So my barn is this two story deal (sort of a combo barn-garage), and the section where the dog crate is located is VERY predator proof, but that's very good advice. It's easy to forget how many things could get through the bars of a dog crate!

Adding a crate to my chicken run was a real game-changer, as well, especially with the young chicks.