Are 12 (maybe 13) hens not enough for 2 roosters?

[DavidILoveYou22]

Title pretty much says it. I have a two month old Cornish cockerel, a two month old Light Brahma cockerel, and a straight run Japanese Bantam chick (with an awfully big comb for it's age). I currently have nine two month old pullets, and three adult hens. Assuming I'll separate or rehome the banty if he is a roo, are two heavy-ish breed roosters too many for 12-13 hens? All hens except one (a Lakenvelder) are heavy breeds.

 

[Pyxis]

It'll depend on the roos, I think. If they're overly aggressive with mating, and do it very frequently, you might need to add some more hens. Theoretically, each rooster should have ten hens, but that's just general guidelines. I'd say just see what happens. If you start noticing that your hens are missing feathers on their backs/wings and maybe the back of their heads, then they're being overmated and you'd want to think about getting more hens or rehoming a rooster.

 

[DavidILoveYou22]

Alright, thank you!

 

[Mrs. K]

I really think you would be happier with one roo for that many hens unless you have a huge area to free range, and even then I think one roo would be enough.

 

[Beardie Girls]

We just started our flock last summer and after losing a few hens to dogs and predators, we've been down to ten hens and two roosters for some time. They free-range. The roosters split the hens between them and venture out in separate groups during the day, then coop together at night. Since they can voluntarily separate and stay away from each other during the day, there is very little conflict, but in both groups there are hens with serious feather loss and damage from mating. Right now most are wearing saddles to protect their backs until feathers grow back. We're adding 12 more hens, so hopefully that will help alleviate the problem.

 

[DavidILoveYou22]

OK. I am going to wait and see what happens as they grow up.