BO and EE roosters?

[whispurr]

I have an EE rooster and 2 BO hens. I have 4 EE hens and a BO rooster + 6 BO females. Is that going to be enough hens to roosters to have them all get along? 4 EE hens and 8 BO hens? Also will they crossbreed? If so, how would I go about getting BO chicks?

 

[Sussex19]

I have an EE rooster and 2 BO hens. I have 4 EE hens and a BO rooster + 6 BO females. Is that going to be enough hens to roosters to have them all get along? 4 EE hens and 8 BO hens? Also will they crossbreed? If so, how would I go about getting BO chicks?

So in the moment there's two flocks and you want to combine them?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yes they'll crossbreeed if they're all housed together. If you want strictly BO chicks then you will need to keep the BOs separated, or only have the BO rooster with the hens (and then only hatch BO eggs).

Will they get along? Maybe, maybe not, it's a crapshoot when it comes to roosters and flock dynamics.

 

[cherrynberry]

Yes they'll crossbreeed if they're all housed together. If you want strictly BO chicks then you will need to keep the BOs separated, or only have the BO rooster with the hens (and then only hatch BO eggs).

Will they get along? Maybe, maybe not, it's a crapshoot when it comes to roosters and flock dynamics.

X2. The male:female ratio often varies from flock to flock and rooster to rooster. So though the guideline is about one rooster to 12 hens, thats just a rough estimate. I say just try it out. If the hens are being over mated, add hens or remove males. It’s as simple as that.

 

[whispurr]

So in the moment there's two flocks and you want to combine them?

Not exactly. Right now I have one rooster (EE) and two hens (BO). I'm adding 11 chicks - 1 BO male and 6 BO females, and 4 EE females. So total flock will end up being EE - 1 rooster & 4 hens, BO - 1 rooster & 8 hens. Make sense?

 

[Sussex19]

Not exactly. Right now I have one rooster (EE) and two hens (BO). I'm adding 11 chicks - 1 BO male and 6 BO females, and 4 EE females. So total flock will end up being EE - 1 rooster & 4 hens, BO - 1 rooster & 8 hens. Make sense?

Yep, that makes sense.
To me it sounds like there's a good chance of it working, I think the only way to find out is to try it out. They will cross breed, so if you want pure BOs you will have to separate them for a while, and wait around 2 or 3 weeks before colleting eggs for hatching.

 

[aart]

If you want to breed pure BO, get rid of the EE male.

 

[NatJ]

If you want to breed pure BO, get rid of the EE male.

Or keep them as separate flocks, sorted by breed. Then only hatch eggs from the Buff Orpington flock.

"Separate flocks" for this purpose means they do not share a coop, or a run, or free range together, or anything else that would let the EE rooster have even a minute or two in which to mate with any of the BO hens.

 

[3KillerBs]

Yes they'll crossbreeed if they're all housed together. If you want strictly BO chicks then you will need to keep the BOs separated, or only have the BO rooster with the hens (and then only hatch BO eggs).

Will they get along? Maybe, maybe not, it's a crapshoot when it comes to roosters and flock dynamics.

I'm currently in the process of sorting out my flock so that I can readily hatch purebreds since my original goals for having an assortment of breeds have changed.

For me, this is *probably* going to take the form of keeping only Blue and Splash Australorp males, keeping Australorp females as my only brown layers and keeping only Marans, California Whites, and some sort of blue layer for a little flock variety since I'll be able to tell those eggs apart.

If you want to breed pure BOs then they can't have access to any other males at all.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is that going to be enough hens to roosters to have them all get along?

How old are your current 1 boy and 2 girls? If they are old enough to act mature, are you having issues with that ratio? Many people don't. Some people have issues with 1 rooster and over 20 hens. To me the ratio of boys to girls is pretty unimportant. The actual personality of the individual chickens, boys and girls, counts for a lot more.

If you are worried about the boys fighting, they can fight to the death, they may fight some and reach an accommodation on how to manage the flock, or you might not see any serious fighting. Ratio doesn't matter, their personality does. If they are going to fight they will fight over 25 hens as quick as they will fight over 2.

4 EE hens and 8 BO hens? Also will they crossbreed? If so, how would I go about getting BO chicks?

I think you are planning on one flock of one BO rooster and 8 BO hens and a separate flock of 1 EE rooster and 4 EE hens. As long as you keep the two flocks separate the BO's eggs will give you BO chicks. But as others said, if the two flocks can mix they will not all be pure BO. They will crossbreed.

EE hens can lay white, brown, pink, blue, or green eggs. Them being called EE's does not tell you anything about what color of egg they will lay. I don't know why you want to keep the EE rooster. Purely your business. But if you get rid of the EE rooster and you can tell the difference in the EE and BO eggs, just keeping the BO rooster will assure the BO eggs will hatch out BO's. So don't incubate the EE eggs.

If you isolate the BO rooster and BO hens for a month (keep the BO hens away from the EE rooster) the eggs will hatch BO chicks.