I need options; roosters to hen ratio.

[EggWalrus]

Omg that sounds horrible, no there not cycling through the females. Not as in they all jump one at a time on them. It mostly just seems like the males are just communicating between each other. There are only two that do like a feather dance around the females only one really try’s to do the hole mating thing the rest just walk around there packs of girls like a formation like there protecting them but there not jumping on them yet. 3 of them aren’t showing any form of aggression. One of the big adult hens actually keeps the to males in line. I’ve seen her go after him when he was doing the feather dance. From what I’ve noticed the roosters mostly just keep look outs because I live in Florida and there are a lot of predators.

Excuse the language, but the problem I've had (and still do sometimes) is when they "gang bang" the hens. Anytime a rooster starts getting some, they all rush over and try to get some. It looks like some kind of perverted chicken orgy. A couple of roosters on one hen, roosters on rooster trying to get to the bottom of the pile where the hen is. One by one, they will finish and roll out of the pile, only to jump back in in about 30 secs. And this will go on for 5-10 mins or until they hen is just laying there near death, unless you break it up. It's not just the teenagers, the older ones do it too, but they usually only partake once. Poor hens, It's sad.

 

[Earthmamafl]

Excuse the language, but the problem I've had (and still do sometimes) is when they "gang bang" the hens. Anytime a rooster starts getting some, they all rush over and try to get some. It looks like some kind of perverted chicken orgy. A couple of roosters on one hen, roosters on rooster trying to get to the bottom of the pile where the hen is. One by one, they will finish and roll out of the pile, only to jump back in in about 30 secs. And this will go on for 5-10 mins or until they hen is just laying there near death, unless you break it up. It's not just the teenagers, the older ones do it too, but they usually only partake once. Poor hens, It's sad.

Omg that’s crazy I would never let that happen or go one for 5-10 minutes. It would be irresponsible of me as a pet owner to let that happen.

 

[Mrs. K]

Well if you are not living in the coop, it might be going on long before you catch it to do something about it.

 

[KSH1]

Thanks for all of the information in this thread! At what age do the hormones really kick in?

 

[aart]

Thanks for all of the information in this thread! At what age do the hormones really kick in?

3-4 months old.

 

[Norcal527]

Before I moved I had a flock of about 40 mixed breed birds and at least 10 of them male because I hatched them myself. They all got along peacefully. My older welsummer Roo was the lead male of the group and the rest all just got along. There were one or two hens with feather damage and I got them aprons. But I think people are too quick to say that you will have problems with multiple roosters. It all just depends on the personality of the birds.​

 

[aart]

It all just depends on the personality of the birds.

.....and often the amount of space they have.

 

[Norcal527]

.....and often the amount of space they have.

Very true...they were free ranged all day!

 

[EggWalrus]

Omg that’s crazy I would never let that happen or go one for 5-10 minutes. It would be irresponsible of me as a pet owner to let that happen.

I don't let it happen if I know it's going on. But when they are free ranging, and I'm in the garden about 800 feet away, it can take a little while to get there. It usually only last for a minute or two, so they are usually done by the time I get there to break it up. If it last longer than that, I start walking for them. Being disabled, it takes a while to get to the other side of the yard where the chickens stay.

Plus you can't be out there 24/7, and chickens are gonna do what chickens do, and that's all kinds of chicken things. Especially the 3 F's, Feeding, Fighting, and you can figure out the last F for yourself.

 

[EggWalrus]

Before I moved I had a flock of about 40 mixed breed birds and at least 10 of them male because I hatched them myself. They all got along peacefully. My older welsummer Roo was the lead male of the group and the rest all just got along. There were one or two hens with feather damage and I got them aprons. But I think people are too quick to say that you will have problems with multiple roosters. It all just depends on the personality of the birds.​

I need to make some saddles for my girls. No one carries them in any of the stores around here, so I'm gonna make some out of old blue jeans. Out of around 50 girls, half of them are bareback, bald and even missing wing top feathers. I keep the spurs clipped on all the roosters I can catch, but some roost in trees and there just no catching them in the day. They won't let you within 20 feet of them even when you're feeding.