2 Hens, 1 Rooster

[Penpike]

Recently my family discovered that one of our three chickens is a rooster. Although we understand that it may not be possible to keep, everyone is still trying their best to get around any problems. I read an article, here on BackYard Chickens, that mentioned probable "over-mating" and that ten hens to one rooster would be good. Because my family only has two hens, this really worries us and we are thinking that we may not be able to keep our rooster. Does anyone know anything about this or know anyone that wants a chicken (not to kill and obviously not for fighting) somewhere in the California Bay Area? Thank you so much!

 

[chicmom]

Hello there!

It's OK to have two hens and one rooster. The only thing is, the rooster will mate with them quite often, and then their feathers on their back and sometimes their neck start to look raggedy from the rooster hopping on top of them. Sometimes the rooster will grab the feathers on the back of the hen's neck too.

So if you like pretty hens, and you don't care if your eggs are fertile or not, then I would advise you to re-home the rooster. Roosters are beautiful though, so if you want to keep him, there are things you can do, like trim his spurs and nails, and also if the girls start to look raggedy, you could put hen saddles on them to help protect their backs. They do come in cute fabrics and look darling.

Also, if you plan on getting another hen to replace him, get two. That will make it easier for the hens--the new hen will have a buddy and won't be the odd man out for too long.

 

[Penpike]

Thank you so much for this information, it is really helpful! I looked up chicken saddles and that seems like a reasonable option, although there are still other things to consider as the rooster may later disturb our neighbors as he crows more frequently. If everything turns out fine, and we are able to keep our rooster, is there any way that you know of to keep some of our eggs not fertile? Thank you again!

 

[greenckick]

We have 2 hens and 1 rooster. He really hit maturity the last 4 weeks and is especially frisky in the morning and evening. But we have not seen any lost feathers or rough patches on the girls. He seems a gentle lover

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We got lucky in the roo department though, he sleeps in till 6am and takes great care of his girls. You never know what kind of rooster you will end up with. Good Luck!

 

[Den in Penn]

Fertilized eggs are just as good to eat as infertile eggs. You won't know the difference unless you look hard. Breeders often keep trios to breed, one way to keep the rooster is to separate them for most of time to keep him from over mating. A wire partition in the coop/run can accomplish this. Most people don't have the room for this set up. If it were me I'd opt for more eggs and swap the rooster.

 

[Penpike]

Thank you so much for the advice. After much discussion and research, my family has finally decided that giving our rooster to a semi-local farm that will find a home for it, will be our best option! Thank you again!