After our first hatching of hens this year, we were inundated with Araucana Cockerels. We wanted to ensure that we had good quality cockerels for breeding, and the only way of doing this is to bring a selection to full maturity, this is called a ‘Batchelor flock’. Complete novices to this idea, we researched into how to make them as happy as possible.
We’re all aware of how aggressive cockerels can be towards one another, but this is mainly around hens when they are fighting for the ‘top dog’ position. I found this poster that really helped us understand how to ensure they are as content as possible while living together. We’ve been using these ideas for a few months now and apart from the little scrap every now and again, the cockerels seem to be living a happy life!
