Two cockerels on the farm spells trouble

Our chicks are now 9 weeks old today and starting to look more like adults both in appearance and size. Their behaviour is also showing much more similarities to the adult chickens. They have been sleeping separately from the adult chickens since we moved them outside about 2 weeks ago but freely move around with them in the day.

We were hoping to integrate them soon into the main chicken house, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that Primrose, our beautiful chick, is not a Primrose at all. With a much larger comb and wattle and a very different posture in comparison the Amber and Velvet, Primrose is almost certainly a cockerel. The markings are almost identical to Tiger at the same age.

This poses a real problem for us because of our exisiting lovely resident cockerel, Tiger, who we hatched at Easter time last year. As a general rule, more than one cockerel is not a good idea, as they will usually fight, even to the death. I know that in larger groups, where there are more hens, having two cockerels may be OK.

We can't be sure how it's going to work out here on the farm and will have to keep a close eye on our two boys, particularly as "Primrose" reaches sexual maturity. It would be a real shame to have to keep the new chicks apart all the time and we may need to think about re-homing Primrose. It's not easy finding homes for cockerels, especially as there is no way that we would let him be used for the table.

Let's hope that these two can sort out their differences and learn to share!

Diane
www.AnimalLoversWeb.com