Has anyone successfully kept 1 rooster with 3 hens?

[ManueB]

They'll have a 30x10 run, and then an additional 40x20 area of free-range space for 15-30 minutes a day. We could add 1 or 2 more sometime before August if we desperately needed to. I know someone who will have started pullets by then. We'd rather not if we don't have to though.

The plan is to start with 4 and then add 1-3 every couple years, up to a max of 10 chickens. That way egg laying is staggered. We could do a max of 12 with our run and coop, but we'll see how we feel about that once we build the darn thing and get to that point.

It all depends on the demeanor of the male.
Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

After reading all the answers, I will maybe state the obvious but in your case and your setting, prepare for the worse means have a space ready in case you need to isolate a cockerel or a hen for several days. This will make things a lot easier if you have a problem, and since you haven't finished building your coop and run you can plan it ahead.
This will be very useful in any case, you are going to need to have separate places if you plan on introducing younger generations to your flock, you will certainly need to isolate an unwell chicken one day, and so on.

 

[Mrs. K]

Anything can happen. If and when you have a cockerel, you need multiple plans and more space. I see your long term plan and like it, I truly like a multi generational plan.

The thing is with cockerels is regardless how you raise them, regardless how darling they are as chicks, a lot of them become so aggressive they should not be kept. The change can be almost hard to believe.

Do know this might not work, have a plan B. If you have children under the age of 6, do not keep any cockerels until you have a lot more experience. Many people vastly underestimate the violence of a rooster attack. Cockerels size up their victims and will attack children first. Under 6 that attack could be in the face.

Mrs K