cockerels

[bigal123_123]

Can i keep young cockerels together or will they end up fighting ,They were hatched together, Seem alright at moment BUT WOULD LIKE TO AVOID ANY PROBLEMS.

[johnygreenfeet]

you will have to keep them apart because as soon as they start to fight they wont stop (just eaten mine !)

[TPeers]

I'm told it depends if you have any hens!

If all you have are cockerels then they will probably get on ok but if there are any hens around the cockerels will fight for dominance and could kill each other.

Good luck!

Have you considered side-by-side runs so they have company but no direct contact?

[Birdie Wife]

They will more than likely end up fighting as soon as they start crowing. Some breeds are very docile - eg Orpingtons - I know of people who have more than one cockerel happily co-existing, but this is the exception to the rule I'm afraid. When you hatch eggs, you will inevitably end up with cockerels and you have to decide how to get rid - you may be able to sell them if they are a pure breed and a good example, more likely (but still difficult) is to rehome somewhere a person has chickens and wants a rooster, but in the event of either of these options failing, the most likely scenario is that you'll have to cull so that you only have one. As johnygreenfeet says, they can provide a tasty meal, and you can be secure in the knowledge that your home-grown meat has led a happy free-range life. I know this can be a hard decision to make. There are easy and quick ways of culling that even a novice can manage (I culled my first cockerel last year, the hardest part was deciding to do it). You really need to make your mind up about it before you start hatching eggs though.

[bigal123_123]

cockerels

They are all light sussex, And i was planning to keep them for table, How old is the right age to cull them.

[Birdie Wife]

Good choice for table birds They will mature a lot slower than commercial birds, most people say around 22-26 weeks is about right. If you want them to keep the weight on, don't let them free-range over a big area and if you can get a feeder so they can take food whenever they like, so much the better. I gave my little roos too much space and they spent almost all their time finding hens to jump on and fighting each other. The meat was very tasty but not much of it and the legs were quite stringy!

[bigal123_123]

cockerels

Thanks for info will i have to part them as im not sure when cockrels become mature.THANKS AGAIN

[bigal123_123]

Forgot to tell you how old they were, There now 12 weeks old so think ill risk it, There are 2 dominant cocks but all seem to get on ,Oh by the way i have 6 together and they cant see or hear the hens if that helps.

[bobleponge]

Bigal I came to this thread rather late but will chuck my tuppenceworth in anyway. We hatched our last lot in August and as they became table ready they went into the freezer. We wanted to keep a couple though, to increase our flock and so kept Little Jen (named after my M-I-L and the first hatched of the brood) and 2 others. Sadly 2 of the 3 including Little Jen turned out to be cockerels. Since then, 6 months ago roughly the 2 cockerels have lived happily side by side. They are best friends and are always to be seen with each other. I was expecting them to start fighting once they started crowing but as yet it just hasnt happened.

[bigal123_123]

everything still fine so keeping thing how they are for now.

[Lauren b]

you will have to keep them apart because as soon as they start to fight they wont stop (just eaten mine !)

bet there yummy . I want a cockerel so we can have chicks but mummy says they are too noisy and people will moan. somebody told mum that a silky cock was not as noisy . Is it true?

[bigal123_123]

Sorry all cockerels make a lot of noise just have to get chicks next time your mum gets new chickens.