Buff Orpingtons hens or roosters???

Alright, that is pretty overwhelming for roosters, so can anyone tell me, would it be bad to keep more than one, I was planning on having about 20 hens and two roosters but now it turns out I have 5 roosters and 15 hens. My guess is that is too many once their testosterone kicks in, should I go down to just one or how many would be okay?


5 roosters to 20 hens should be too many, but I've found that it can work. As with many things in chicken keeping, the larger the numbers, the more leeway you have. I wouldn't suggest anyone try to fit 4 birds into a 2 bird coop, but I've currently got an 80 bird coop with 100 birds in it and there's no problem.

The roosters fight a bit as they mature but once the pecking order is settled they will stop. As for hens... I would expect to see feather loss, but then again I would also expect to see feather loss in my bantam pen where I currently have 7 or so cocks and maybe 15 hens and pullets, but nope. It may or may not work out. If they mature and you start to see overmating stress you can rehome or stew them; Orp roos are great because they rehome relatively easy and if they don't, they've got a good meaty body. If not, you'll have a lot of cute Buff babies!
 

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