Rooster to hen ratio

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Wyatt0224

Wyatt0224

Chirping
Mar 1, 2016
587
44
91
Westminster, Maryland
Hello everyone! I have a little predicament with my roosters. I have 4 Silkie roosters, a ba roo and an rir roo. Two of the silkies are pretty mean to al the other chickens, (they'll run up to them and pull out their feathers). So we have a total of 6 roosters out of a total of 15 chickens. Do you guys think I should get rid of the mean ones for now and see how the rest go? Also what are some problems if I have this number of roosters with only 9 hens?
 
Typically the advised ratio is 10:1 . Some roosters do alright with fewer than 10 hens and others need more. It all depends on the individual. You definitely have too many roosters and there are far too many good ones out there to keep a mean one around.
 
What will happen to the hens if there to many roosters in a flock because I've heard of people saying in the end it only hurts the hens. Also if they're between 16 and 15 weeks old how long do you think until they begin fighting?
 
The hens will get hurt with that many roosters unless you do separate them as Kim suggested. If they're not fighting already, you've been lucky but it will start soon.
 
Well this morning when I opened the gate my three Silkie roosters all chased around my hens and even my two other roosters. When they would chase them they tried to grab them and when they did they would pull out large tufts of feathers. It looks like they're all molting from the feathers they're pulling out. It got so bad that my 9 week old rir hens went back the ladder into the coop until the roosters calmed down. What should I do?
 
As you saw, 6 cockerels and only 9 pullets/hens is not going to work out. Butcher 5, or even all 6, of the males. If you aren't up for processing list them on craigslist. If you don't want to do either of those then build a bachelor pad and lock up the males separately.
 
keesmom said:
As you saw, 6 cockerels and only 9 pullets/hens is not going to work out. Butcher 5, or even all 6, of the males. If you aren't up for processing list them on craigslist. If you don't want to do either of those then build a bachelor pad and lock up the males separately.
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Yes to any of these suggestions or even a combination. Even one adolescent cockerel can wreak havoc on your girls until they settle down and sometimes they never do.
 

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