Rooster Update

Ending up with more roosters than we had planned on has given us a few challenges. We have experimented with living arrangements in an effort to keep all of our chickens happy and unstressed. What we have learned is this......

Some roosters are naturally aggressive (that would be our Hank!) Some roosters are wimpy (Rod Stewart). And some roosters just don't care (Elvis). If we had only had these three roosters...life would be easy. Unfortunately with the arrival of last summer's chicks came two more roosters....enter Kenny Rogers and Brad Paisley. If you have been following my blog, you know all of these fellows quite well. If you are new, no worries....but I encourage you to go back and read some of the rooster relocation escapades.

Our last rooster story ended with Kenny and Brad sharing the smaller henhouse along with 12 hens. All seemed cozy and quiet amongst this clan until the time that the girls reached maturity. Then all of a sudden it was war.....and apparently Kenny was winning. Brad started hiding out in the henhouse all by himself.

(What a handsome fellow!)

After much thought, I decided to try moving Brad to our largest henhouse yard. This is where Elvis lives with about 50 hens. There are two large henhouses that open into this large enclosed yard. Thinking that each rooster could then have his own henhouse, I made the move.
Amazingly, there was very little commotion over this new addition to the henhouses. Brad moved in without much fuss, spent a couple of weeks very close to the house that I placed him in, and then comfortably settled into the flock.

(And you should hear me sing!)

The thing that surprises me most is that at night both Elvis and Brad share the same henhouse, without any incident. It seems that there are plenty of hens to go around, so there is no competition. What I have learned is that harmony is definitely dependant upon the dispositions of the roosters! Elvis and Brad are both mellow fellows...which makes for great henhouse karma.