Birds per pen

[SuperPeacockman]

I was wondering about the ratio of hens to roos. Everyone says 1 male per five hens or 2 per 9 or ten. Would it be possible to have say 3 per 15 or 4 per twenty. What I am asking s there a reason no one says more than 2 per 10. Will more than two fight. Also how much space does each bird require.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Probably because having more than 2 males in a pen would require a pretty large pen. They need .75 to 1 sq. ft. of space per bird, so if you have 3 males and 15 females you're looking at a pen that is 2' by 7' to 9'. Much easier to move a cage that is 2' x 5'.

I've kept as many as 7 females with 1 male and as little as 8 females with 2 males. Currently I have 14 or 15 birds in a 2' x 8' pen. I believe there are 8 females in the pen.

 

[thekid]

they can also be .5 squre foot per bird im attempting keeping them like that this summer so when it happens i will let you know if it works lol

 

[Josh45640]

I am getting ready to get some quail. The pen that I built is 3x8x4 ft tall. So I can house say 4 males and 20 hens? New to these little buggers.

 

[Stellar]

I have 2 males to 6 hens right now in some pens, 3 males in some...in the Jumbos, I make sure they are doing their job (I have been seeing things on the wall from some little guys...poor guys...

)

But also you have to experiment some. Move around birds, some get along fine, others don't. Also males don't always kill each other

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
when they are raised together they seem to do better then if they are not

 

[mhwc56]

Quote:
IMHO..6inches X 6 inches per bird is too crowded they have no room to move around and get away from anyone who is picking on them and they seem to be just plain unhappy .......

 

[winkydink]

Quote:
IMHO..6inches X 6 inches per bird is too crowded they have no room to move around and get away from anyone who is picking on them and they seem to be just plain unhappy .......

IIRC, 0.5 square feet = 72 square inches, not 36. It's more like 8.5" x 8.5".

 

[thekid]

most breeder pens use .5 sq ft

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
.5 sq. ft. is pretty tight, you might have problems with that. But as I've said 100 times on this site, part of it is the space per bird and part is the overall size of the pen. You wouldn't want to keep 8 birds in a 2 x 2 cage but I had 12 in a 2 x 4 and they did fine. But that's still at least .75 per bird. Personally, I wouldn't try it with .5 sq. ft.