rosalyndavies Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Can anyone tell me if they know of or had experience of keeping more than 1 cockerel together. I have seen some fabulous cockerels all together in a field in Timperley. I love the way they look so colourful with amazing combs & wattles. We already have a young Light Sussex Cockerel but would like to get a Faverolle Cock to go with our Faverolle Hens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 We have a cockerel. But he wouldn't tolerate another rival. Nor would the neighbours! I think two cockerels are likely to fight once they get to a certain age. Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atsw Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 I agree with Tricia, in an urban environment I think you're asking for trouble, and not just from the chickens! We have at least two cockerels in the set of chicks we've recently hatched, and already the 'boys' are squaring up to each other on a regular basis and they are only three weeks old . We will only be keeping one, any others have all been offered/assigned new homes. Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 If you have enough room (eg a field) then they will normally have enough room to get away from each other so its possible to keep several cockerels though obviously not ideal In a small scale situation unless they have been bought up together I fear you would not be sucessful Even when they have been bought up together there can still be a bit of trouble too so even that isnt a guarantee that all will be well In general cockerels can be harder to handle and can get agressive, they will also bother the girls and if you have several they can gang up on one poor girl and do a lot of damage If you want to breed I would keep cockerels separate with their own set of girls If you don't want to breed I wouldnt recommend multiple cockerels in a pet situation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 I agree....it could lead to some nasty injuries..........unless you have heaps of room where they could roam with their own harems, away from each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 hi i run chicken sanctuary ive got 29 cockerals 1 peacock 5 ducks /silkies/bamtoms/peakins all living together in compound with two large sheds ive not had any problems yet approx 100 birds : most rescued birds got somany cockerals as "Ooops, word censored!"ody likes them : mine start crowing 4.30 am every morning niebours dont have alarm clocks anymore keep them happy with free eggs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I don't think many neighbours would be fobbed off with an offer of eggs in exchange for being woken at 4.30! We have 5 cockerels but keep them separate, each with their own little harem.........and they crow much earlier than 4.30 am during the summer months! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Well here is my experience.. We have 3 cockerels - each with their own flock. They do not mix together, they have their own free range areas. However, we once had 2 cockerels hatched together, that grew up together. They were absolutely perfect together, with only the dominant one crowing, the other was silent. The dominant one then went to live on a farm & the day after, the silent one started crowing - it was very very funny! If they are hatched together, there is a chance that they can live together. However, as they mature they may fight - as they would each be competing for the ladies affections! Good luck! Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Well here is my experience.. we once had 2 cockerels hatched together, that grew up together. They were absolutely perfect together, with only the dominant one crowing, the other was silent. The dominant one then went to live on a farm & the day after, the silent one started crowing - We raised 24 birds for the table. 22 were Ross CObbs, and 2 were some unknown brown mix. Of the ross CObs, 10 cockerels. Of the browns, one was a cockerel. These birds were bred to be table birds so were not as active as my garden girls. When we started to dispatch, we took 2 Ross Cobb cockerels first, then 2 Ross Cobb cockerels the following week. By then, the remaining Ross CObb cockerels were about 18 weels old and were squabbling, fighting, and humping all the time. (Not surprising, as there were still 6 of them). The brown cockerel was bottom of the pecking order, well below the Girls. Move on a couple of weeks, and the RC boys were causing so much mayhem that we culled the remaining 6 in one go. We didn't cull Lumpy, the brown cockerel. As soon as the other boys had gone, Lumpy developed into a full blown cockerel. Gorgeous plumage, huge legs, huge comb and wattles. Mrs Lumpy (the other brown hen) was looking a bit un-hen like, but didn't show any cockerel features. Eventually, Lumpy's time came. He was doing what comes naturally to a cockerel, but we didn't want to breed from this batch. Within a few days of Lumpy's demise, Mrs Lumpy came out of the closet and became another stunning cockerel. Our birds free range for 12 hours a day, so there was no stress over space or food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosalyndavies Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 I just want to thank all you lovely people for sending in your comments. I have found each post very interesting and it has given me a lot to think about. Sidney our sussex cockerel is doing very well. Sidney became a Daddy yesterday with 2 beautiful yellow chicks hatching out. Their surrogate mum, Harriet is doing a wonderful job raising them. We love Faverolles but think we will wait until we can move to a place with lots of room so we can give each Cock his space with his hens!! X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Good idea! Ours were crowing well at 3.30 this morning.....and are still going well now! One starts and sets all the others off......and then they try to outdo each other Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
