What's your ratio??

Even if the boys forget, they remember fast when one goes in and sees a boy already in there. After I moved each boy into their coop every night for a week or so, they got the idea. Creatures of habit.

bbqnmama said:

I've got what may be a silly question on the topic of roosters to hens. I've got 17 hens and one rooster who's pretty well behaved. I've ordered 15 more chicks for spring and while I specified females I know it's quite possible one or two will be roosters. Given the ratios folks are putting out there I should be good on that front (I've also heard 3 roosters are better than 2?!).

I read that having the roosters sleep In separate quarters is a good thing.

So my next question is - how do you get the roosters to sleep in separate quarters? Will they just learn that the one coop is there and the other isn't if that's where they stay once they're ready to be moved outdoors?

Thanks!

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We just sent two of our four roosters to freezer camp last weekend.. There wasn't any fighting, there was a lot of the dominant male chasing the others but no fighting.. We removed them more for the hens, too many roosters and your hens will be over worked and harassed. Its best to keep it as low as you can and still get fertile eggs. Right now we have a 1 1/2 year old Blue orpington and a 6-7 month old Blue Orpington/EE cross (his offspring) they do well as long as the younger one does not cover a hen in front of his father.

As for removing the rooster at night when they roost, I have never done that all of the birds go to the coop, squabble for best rooting rights and quiet down for the night..
Interested in why would people remove the roosters tho..

AmericanMom said:

We just sent two of our four roosters to freezer camp last weekend.. There wasn't any fighting, there was a lot of the dominant male chasing the others but no fighting.. We removed them more for the hens, too many roosters and your hens will be over worked and harassed. Its best to keep it as low as you can and still get fertile eggs. Right now we have a 1 1/2 year old Blue orpington and a 6-7 month old Blue Orpington/EE cross (his offspring) they do well as long as the younger one does not cover a hen in front of his father.

As for removing the rooster at night when they roost, I have never done that all of the birds go to the coop, squabble for best rooting rights and quiet down for the night..
Interested in why would people remove the roosters tho..

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On edit.. We didn't have four roosters planned, I was having a hard time deciding which one of the three to keep, I had a barred rock that was 10 months old and two Blue Orpington crosses... We finally decided on the Blue/EE as he was actively seeking out and mating the hens, He was calling them for treats and as I watched one day gave the alarm first for the pesky hawk and remained in the run until it left. I think he is going to be a good protector.

bbqnmama said:

(I've also heard 3 roosters are better than 2?!).

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Not in my experience. They're little thugs. The 2 dominant roosters will gang up together on the weaker one, and take turns holding him down while they beat the tar out of him. At least if there's only 2, the weaker one can run away when he's not being held down.

I'm cockerel heavy at the moment. My health is preventing me from butchering, and thankfully my head rooster is keeping the young punks in line.

In my grow-out pen I have my head rooster, 5 mature (3 ish years) hens, and 8 cockerels, from 3-7 months. Sounds horrible, but the young guys are flat terrified of the older hens, let alone the older rooster. The hens look great and are calm and happy--the most drama seems to be the hens chasing the young guys around. I know it can't last forever and butchering is planned, life's just thrown us a curve we're trying to adjust to.

My main pen has 4 grown hens (2-4 years), 15 pullets reaching point of lay (7 months), a 8 month old cockerel, a 7 month old silkie cockerel, a 4ish month old cockerel, 3 3 month pullets and a 3 month cockerel. Its' a real mixed bag, but the young roosters are just reaching maturity. I don't know if the Ameraucana is mating anyone, the silkie was sure trying to talk a partridge Rock into letting him hop on her but she was having none of it

Once we get butchering done and sorting of who will live where, I plan to carry around one rooster to 4-8 hens, depending on the breeding pen set up.