Adding a rooster, good or bad idea?

[tororider]

My neighbor has about 25 hens with one rooster. I would like to try and hatch some eggs but figure maybe half will be fertile with that rooster to hen ratio. Question; if I wanted to give him another rooster to increase fertility would that work, or just cause problems? They have a large pen and henhouse. Am I trying to be too helpful for my own good, or with that many hens would it work?

 

[John T]

At the moment I have two roos with my 14 hens. One roo is a Maran (mean little bugger) and the other is an Amer. The Maran is alpha and the Amer. is good with that. I also have a silkie rooster and hen in with the flock. One big happy family.

 

[LeghornGuy]

I would not add another rooster to my flock.
I had two roosters and they fought. Two roosters also stressed out my hens.
I have one rooster with 16 hens.
He seems to make all the ladies happy and the ladies are less stressed.
I would recommend separating / selecting some hens and confine them with the rooster.
I would use those eggs to hatch.

good luck with your flock

 

[tororider]

Quote:
It isn't my flock which is why I want expert opinions. I don't want to mess up a happy flock just to get a few more fertile eggs. Maybe I should just hatch the eggs as they are and do it in bulk to try and raise my numbers in a hatch.

Anybody else?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Go ahead & incubate some of the eggs from these hens. In 21 days you'll know for certain how effective this lone roo is. You can also candle the incubating eggs after a week to check development, or be patient for three.

This one guy could be fertile & busy enough to cover all 25 hens. Or he could have only a selected number that he favors with his attentions. You could also take time to observe him with the hens, see how "busy" he is during his days.

Adding another roo could be an easy transition for this flock, where they could peacefully divide the hens between them with no problems. But it's just as likely, perhaps even more, so that a new roo could cause all sorts of problems, fighting with the old roo, upsetting the hens, etc.

 

[mmajw]

I would not add another Rooster

 

[Animallover606]

i wouldn't add another rooster but it says that 1 rooster for every ten hens so if you did you'd probally have to have 3 roosters for best hatchabilty and fertility so i'm thinking don't add another as everyone keeps on saying but it's your choice. or you could make the rooster if you add another a seprate pen and then throw in some hens with him.