More than 1 rooster

[Mother Hen]

This Sat I'm going to be getting 2 roosters. One is a BO and the other is an Easter egger. There is already one, Rhode Island Red rooster here and he has been the only one since 2014. Am I looking at any kind of issues/problems? If so, what would they be? Also if problems/issues arise, is there a way I could try to get past them without too much difficulty (or losing a rooster)?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How old are theses roosters? You are definitely going to have troubles bringing in adults.

 

[Mother Hen]

The roosters I'm going to be getting are still babies only about 12 weeks old.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

The roosters I'm going to be getting are still babies only about 12 weeks old.

Those aren't quite babies anymore. We're they raised together? If they were they may stick together and cause problems down the road for your older rooster.

How big is your set up? And how many hens do you have?

What are your integration plans?

 

[Mother Hen]

I have about 40 hens
Yes, the 2 roosters I'm getting were raised together.
The chicken coop is a nice size. Last year we we're able to put in a brooder box when we got new chicks and still had plenty of room which aren't chicks anymore ( little over a year now) and the brooder box got taken out. The chickens I have are free range during the day so they are all over the property.
I have a family member that stays on the property with me and knows how to integrate the new ones to the old ones. Yes, he knows about 1 rooster not the other one even though when I first mentioned I was getting a rooster given to me I hinted to the fact there may be two.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You may have no troubles, and you may have no troubles until next spring when the new boys are really maturing.

It can be better to keep more than 2 roosters to disperse any aggression. If down the road you find them making trouble as a pair you can separate them temporarily. You can also remove one, or both if they become trouble.

I basically manage my maturing roosters if they need it, not all do, by penning and releasing for various lengths of time. Some can be a pain their first year or two, others a good from the start.

You will just have to see how it goes. My BO roosters are good roosters, and are one of my favorite breeds.

 

[mustangrooster]

@oldhenlikesdogs has basically covered everything and given some good advice, so there's not much left for me to say.

Basically, since they are raised together, and there is a lot of hens, I don't see any problems occurring---yet. It all depends on the maturing stage.

I have roughly 12 roosters and 6 cockerels. So I have 18 boys altogether, no I'm not joking.

The majority of them were raised together, apart from 6 of them. They aren't best buds, and I don't think they ever will be, but they don't kill each other. You have to be really careful on how you introduce adult male roosters to one another. If you just put two mature roosters in the same coop that have never met one another, they will fight and they CAN kill each other.

As for the cockerels, I notice as the boys start to mature, the "best buds" phase starts to pass. Whilst they won't necessarily kill each other, you might notice little (or big) fights for dominance, them chasing one another away etc, and eventually, you'll see which one is the head rooster. Well, this is what I have noticed with mine.

Yours are still young but when they mature, your going to notice a phase, you could call it their teenager stage. They might be more pecky, they might challenge you, they might even try and run up to attack you. It all depends on the roster. My Ancona rooster is too shy and never would do it and never has. But Rofl, my Bantam cross has done such things, as did his father. Both were phases, both are very good roosters. But Rofl is cheeky (still being a cockerel) his father is very mellow as a 4-year-old rooster.

Rule of thumb, if you want to avoid bad rooster habits, it's best to treat roosters like Livestock.

Good luck with your flock!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

You will know you have too many roosters if you see hens' backs start to bare. The boys can get into competitions trying to ensure their own progeny. Or they might not with the busy-ness of 40 layers. You might see them share duties such as standing guard while the other eats. Your one rooster might find relief in having additional eyes on the sky. Or it could be you'll have hen harassers or people harassers in which then you know for sure which one is 'too many.'

 

[aart]

I have about 40 hens
Yes, the 2 roosters I'm getting were raised together.
The chicken coop is a nice size. ....

Wonders what a 'nice size' in feet by feet is for 40 birds.
Curious too if they are all free range or if you have a run/pen/etc.

Best of cLuck to yas!!......let us know how it all goes.

 

[Mother Hen]

All free range. I'm not sure on the feet by feet of the chicken coop seeing how I wasn't here when it was built. All I know is I'm not a small woman width wise and I have plenty of room to maneuver around while I'm cleaning it without removing feeder and waterer or nesting box.