We have a lot of roosters; almost every shot shows two or three. Here’s how that works.
Why the flock grew so fast
Our original 83 chickens took three and a half years to build up; at this new farm, we hit 200 in about half a year. It still works largely because the original 83 stay calm and steady. Adding roosters always has risks, but adding them to an unstable flock just makes chaos more chaotic. The jump came from taking in wild chickens of unknown background, since we started doing a bit of chicken catching.
Step 1: quarantine and trust
First I catch the chickens, assuming they have worms, parasites or some illness (usually not too bad). Outside the coop but still on our farm, they’re quarantined in small cages, fattened up on nutritious food and checked for disease for about two weeks to a month.
Most aren’t tame at all, so this one-on-one time builds trust, which can take around three months. Feeding them once or twice a day looks boring, but it works. A normal wild chicken in a cage bounces around like a ping-pong ball until it hits its head and dies, so getting this far is already a small miracle.
Step 2: a small cage inside the coop
Next they live in a small cage inside the coop for two weeks to a month. Why small? If a caged rooster glares outward, roosters come over and fight through the wire. In a tall cage they can kick and badly hurt each other even through the mesh; in a narrow one, nobody gets hurt.
Meanwhile they watch everything (which rooster is strongest, which hen is cutest), a social study of how the coop works. A bird coming off a fight also gets time to recover and come out in top shape.
Step 3: release
Then I release them into the coop while people are there. A big fight breaks out, of course. But since they know each other by sight, it’s “Hey, you’re the guy from the cage,” not “Who the heck are you?”, which would become a fight to the death. “I know you, but you’re annoying” should settle down after some scuffling. If it’s too bad, back in the cage; if not, someday they blend in.
Most important: I’m not just the owner but a member of the coop, the top rooster, about level with Heart. When I come in, everyone goes, “Oh, let’s stop fighting.”
Today I let three roosters out. Oreo here was a handful as a teenager; he was put away once, then came out again. Pineapple warns a newcomer, “Come any closer and I’ll kick.” That’s our happy rooster coexistence!