Hi and welcome to BYC. In my experience, I've found that one rooster to 8-10 hens is a good proportion to keep the hens from being overmated. Too few hens results in the hens losing feathers on their backs and on the backs of their necks and constantly trying to get away from the rooster(s). Sometimes they can even suffer abrasions or even wounds from the overmating. One year when I had a few juvenile cockerels, they would hide in the hen house around dusk and then jump on the pullets as they came in to roost, basically terrorizing the females until they were afraid to go in at night. All the cockerels ended up "going to freezer camp" to give the pullets some peace. It's not easy, but this is a fact of life when you have animals that are basically livestock. Do you have a local meat processor? If you can't bear to eat them yourself, you can donate them to your local food pantry.
Glad you joined.
