managing multiple roosters?

I have one rooster with 13 hens and he breeds the girls non stop most of the time. Isnt having that many roosters with such few hens a bad idea? I couldnt do that to my hens. Or are they a breed that dont mate all the time?
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ROCKY

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Possibly more of a challenge to what he sees as a competitor?

Re-opening this thread because I would like to re-introduce some roosters that grew up together to put them on Summer Pasture. How long can I expect the initial pecking order fight to last? The big Speckled Sussex rooster seems to win, but the Blue Ameraucana will never quit and they just keep going at it. I'd hate to have to keep two pens going all summer.

It will be difficult to reintegrate them now as this is the height of the breeding season and testosterone levels are high. If the one rooster will not admit defeat, they may fight to the death.

I hope this is the right place for more rooster/ hen questions- if not, I apologize in advance.

I'm new to chickens.. I have 5 seven week old chickens who may have a roo among them, I have 21 one week old chicks in the basement and at least 9 of them are roosters (packing peanuts).

Is it cruel/ wishful thinking on my part to plan on building a separate roo pen and allowing them to free range? My hens will be in their day pen, at least for the first year, so I don't see a lot of mingling.

I'm interested in this question too. I'm a New Egg and I have what I believe to be 4 roosters and 2 hens. Am I going to have problems? Should I separate them as they get older? I've only had them for a month, got them from TSC.

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You can probably keep them together for awhile. Eventually; yes, it will be a problem. The rule is 10-13 hens PER ROOSTER. So, the roos will be fighting over the 2 hens and that could lead to a deathly sight.

I have 2 roosters that I also got from TSC (LOOK they are my avitar!!). Originally there were 3 - 2 roos and a hen, but the hen unfortunately died from cocci. Now my roos are 5 months old. I have always kept them together and for the most part they have done fine. I can definitely tell who is dominant because he regularly grabs the other roo by the back of the neck until he screams. Well, I finally found 10 hens to put with my boys. From what I have read, my best move would be to get rid of one of my roos. 10 hens isn't enough for 2 roos. SO, that's the plan. I'm going to sell the "dominant" roo with 1 of my newly acquired hens and keep the rest (9) with my "non-dominant" roo. (I like the underdog!!)

You could always just put the boys together and the girls together (separate). That would probably work also. As long as they can't see each other. I would wait though, until they were a bit older. They are still young yet to know what the girls are for!!

BEST OF LUCK

As this is your first year, and your roo's are 3.5 months, I think that the fighting is just beginning. The testosterone is just starting to flow, so to speak, it has not gone full tilt yet. As it increases, most likely, so will your problems and the fighting. This upsets the whole flock, even the hens not being harassed or attacked. And the harmony of your flock will decrease.

If you are not breeding for specific traits or breeds, and you are first year owner, I would recommend either no roosters, or one rooster. One has to have a pretty elaborate set up, with multiple coops and runs, to keep all of them. I guess my question is why do you want all those roos? Your flock dynamics will be much improved with only one rooster. While we all wish that they would all just get along, in reality, by far, most of the time they won't. The can fight terrible, blood letting fights, sometimes to death.

And even if they are sweet and nice NOW, that is no guarantee, in fact, I have read several posts that almost indicate, that the less afraid of you as a chick, and preadolescent, the more they try to dominate you upon reaching adolescence by attacking either you or another human being, most often a child.

Roosters really do not make reliable pets.

Mrs.K