Yes, it does, and that's what I have always done in the past. My rooster pen is at capacity right now :D and some roosters (most of the Giants especially, surprisingly) don't do well mixed with other roosters, and I always feel bad for them and let them loose. This worked just great when I had four separate coops, but at the moment I have two coops separated within the barn, and then open barn. A cull day or two will go a long way to fixing the problem. Last freezer day I think I bumped off 17 including a gander and a tom, and I could easily have done double that if I had had the time. That number has gone up since then; there's easily 50 males out there of various species, that should be eaten rather than eatingross wrote:QR_BBPOST Hmmm also putting all the roosters in one big display pen no hens does solve the repro problem .
The Giant hens, likewise, don't generally do well mixed with the birds bred for egg production. My egg birds (including the EE's) have stronger personalities and tend to be more aggressive. Aggression in general upsets the Giants, they're big babies lol. Or big princesses--pecking order politics are beneath them.OH, there's something else I've decided, albeit tentatively, and that is to not continue with the Brown Chinese geese. I will probably be keeping two or three girls for eggs, but will not be breeding anymore so ganders are going to the pot. I raised Embdens for the first time this year, and they mature faster, finish MUCH larger (better table goose), eat less, and are quieter than the China which is a BIG selling point right now lol. One of the Embden's has already started to lay, I've got 7 eggs from her, so I believe egg production will be good enough to hatch replacements once they are mature enough for the eggs to be fertile. Once the REAL laying season starts for the geese, I may decide to get rid of all the China's except the one little old girl. Failing all that (except Freezer Day, which MUST happen) just getting some walls up will help. Little more work for me in terms of cleanout, which right now is basically just pushing crap across the floor into a gutter, but more peace and quiet in the barn, and a lot fewer "oopsies" to grow out until I can figure out what is what.
