Adding roosters

[zroulx]

Hi there currently I only have 7 adult hens but i have 11 more as 4 week old babies ill be adding I currently have a 3 day old rooster chick who will eventually get added along with 4 more baby chicks in may. My friend is currently getting rid of his rooster though and i was just curious could i get away with having 2 roosters? They would be in a 8x12 coop with about a 30x30 fenced off area to roam outside. So id have 23 hens and 2 roosters i know most people recommend 1:10 ratio but i was not sure on coop size

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm not very good on the "how much room do my chickens need?" question since I free range 3/4 of the year (and in the winter when the snow is moved away from the ground in front of the coop). You could possibly get by with two roosters - the younger one may acquire the younger hens for his harem as they grow up together. When he comes to breeding age, it's possible (maybe even likely) that he'll challenge the older one for dominance. Even though they may have their own harems, they will have their scuffles. How intense the fighting may be, it's impossible to say. If the baby grows up with the older one, they may not be as intense.

 

[zroulx]

Ok thank you! I think ill take the chance and gamble hopefully everything works! =)

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Do it while he's young! I just added a 4-5 month old rooster to my hen pen a week ago because I thought he had breeder potential and the old rooster and hens promptly beat him silly and he's crippled now and just flops about on the ground. Looks like I'm going to have to cull him if he don't start walking soon.