help! how to balance sex ratio. Are my pullets safe?

[DBranch]

So we are very new to raising chickens. We are learning. And we have 3 barred plymouth rock pullets, 2 wyandotte cockerels, all hatched at the same time in May. So they're 3-4 months old. We also have a one year old Silkie rooster who can be a bit of an ass. We so sadly and regretfully made the mistake of leaving him, another silkie cockerel, and a hen together. We had bought those 3 together when they were under the age of 6 months, and did not realize when the cockerels reached sexual maturity. One morning we got up and our hen could not walk, she kept her tail down and her feet would slide out from under her and she had no balance. I did some research and realized that we had failed her and what likely happened was that the two cockerels over mated her and injured her. So we separated them and tried to make her as comfortable as possible with food and water within reach. Within about two weeks she was getting much better and able to waddle around with much more stability then suddenly she passed </3... so I'm very afraid of that happening again. The other silkie rooster passed about 3 weeks ago because a neighbourhood dog got to him. So we have the one silkie rooster, 2 wyandotte cockerels, and 3 plymouth pullets.

My question is this: with the two wyandotte cockerels coming to puberty soon if not already (they've begun cockadooing), and the one already sexual mature rooster - Are my 3 pullets safe? Should i separate them by sexes or will the 3 roosters become angry and hurt each other? Should I put the two wyandotte males with the girls considering they were all raised together? We have two coupes so we have the option to separate

We are trying to get more hens to balance out the ratio... but should we also be getting rid of 1 or 2 roosters?

Thank you kindly,

B+D

 

[Percheron chick]

Get rid of all the rooster. Give yourself a year to get up to speed with the chickens then get a rooster if you have enough hens 6-10. Your first pullet most likely died of another cause. Overmating usually just makes a pullet timid and beat up looking (missing and broken feathers).

 

[DBranch]

Get rid of all the rooster. Give yourself a year to get up to speed with the chickens then get a rooster if you have enough hens 6-10. Your first pullet most likely died of another cause. Overmating usually just makes a pullet timid and beat up looking (missing and broken feathers).

Ok, well thats relieving in some sense that she didn't die of a violent injury but I guess no better nonetheless. Would you process the roosters or try to sell them to another person?
thank you very much for your advice!

 

[sourland]

Personally I would process the roosters, but that is not a solution for everyone. Good luck in your decision.

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree, roosters take some experience, cull the roosters. Separate them now, asap, and try and give them away. Sometimes you get lucky, just recently my niece got rid of 5. If not, cull them yourselves, and if you can't eat them, plant a rose bush.

Being raised together has almost no influence on chicken behavior in the long term. It will not make them get along in to tight of a coop, it will not make them be nice to each other, and it will not diminish the sexual drive.

While chickens will attack strange birds, they will also attack birds they have know their whole life if the right triggers are there.

If you have enough space for 8-15 hens I would keep 1 rooster. I would not add another rooster unless my count was about 25 -30 hens. In a truly backyard set up, I would not keep a rooster. IMO - roosters take more space than a hen.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is hard to know what happened to that pullet. It may have had something to do with those two cockerels, it my not have.

There is no magic ratio of girls to boys that makes all issues go away. If the boys are going to fight over the girls it doesn't matter if it is 20 girls or 1. Some people with one boy and 20 girls have the same over-mating or barebacked issues as people with one or two girls. Each chicken is an individual and each flock has its own dynamics.

Typically once they become mature, hens and roosters things calm down. Often but not always and if you can get to that point. When immature pullets and immature cockerels go through puberty things can really heat up. Again the ratio isn't what is important, immaturity is the driving force. Some individuals and some flocks are worse than others. To me room is a very important criteria. The tighter they are packed together the more bad behaviors are magnified. Even with a lot of room you are still likely to have issues. As someone I miss on here once said watching pullets and cockerels going through puberty is not for the faint of heart.

What are your goals for your chickens and especially those cockerels? The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Anything else is just personal preference. Preference can be pretty strong, I have a few of those myself, but that's a choice, not a need. I generally recommend keeping as few males as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed more problems with more boys but your odds of having problems go way up the more you have.

So what are your options? You could let it go and see how it plays out. Base your actions on what you see. I raise several cockerels to butcher age at 23 weeks every year and most years it isn't that bad. But I have a lot of room, that makes a big difference. About every three or four years it gets rough enough that I isolate some cockerels until butcher day. I do have my limits.

Get rid of all or all but one of the boys if that suits your goals. That could mean eating them, selling or giving them away, or housing them separately. Sounds like you don't care for that Silkie boy that much to begin with.

With your second coop this might be easier than many people have, but set up a bachelor pad. Keep only boys in one. With no girls to fight over it's often not that bad.

I don't know what your goals are or what your facilities look like. I don't know what the right answer is for you. My goals are totally different from yours, I would not be in this situation to start with. But your goals should be what drives this, not mine. With my goals I'd only have one boy.

 

[DBranch]

I agree, roosters take some experience, cull the roosters. Separate them now, asap, and try and give them away. Sometimes you get lucky, just recently my niece got rid of 5. If not, cull them yourselves, and if you can't eat them, plant a rose bush.

Being raised together has almost no influence on chicken behavior in the long term. It will not make them get along in to tight of a coop, it will not make them be nice to each other, and it will not diminish the sexual drive.

While chickens will attack strange birds, they will also attack birds they have know their whole life if the right triggers are there.

If you have enough space for 8-15 hens I would keep 1 rooster. I would not add another rooster unless my count was about 25 -30 hens. In a truly backyard set up, I would not keep a rooster. IMO - roosters take more space than a hen.

Mrs K

Wonderful thank you for the advice Mrs K !

 

[DBranch]

It is hard to know what happened to that pullet. It may have had something to do with those two cockerels, it my not have.

There is no magic ratio of girls to boys that makes all issues go away. If the boys are going to fight over the girls it doesn't matter if it is 20 girls or 1. Some people with one boy and 20 girls have the same over-mating or barebacked issues as people with one or two girls. Each chicken is an individual and each flock has its own dynamics.

Typically once they become mature, hens and roosters things calm down. Often but not always and if you can get to that point. When immature pullets and immature cockerels go through puberty things can really heat up. Again the ratio isn't what is important, immaturity is the driving force. Some individuals and some flocks are worse than others. To me room is a very important criteria. The tighter they are packed together the more bad behaviors are magnified. Even with a lot of room you are still likely to have issues. As someone I miss on here once said watching pullets and cockerels going through puberty is not for the faint of heart.

What are your goals for your chickens and especially those cockerels? The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Anything else is just personal preference. Preference can be pretty strong, I have a few of those myself, but that's a choice, not a need. I generally recommend keeping as few males as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed more problems with more boys but your odds of having problems go way up the more you have.

So what are your options? You could let it go and see how it plays out. Base your actions on what you see. I raise several cockerels to butcher age at 23 weeks every year and most years it isn't that bad. But I have a lot of room, that makes a big difference. About every three or four years it gets rough enough that I isolate some cockerels until butcher day. I do have my limits.

Get rid of all or all but one of the boys if that suits your goals. That could mean eating them, selling or giving them away, or housing them separately. Sounds like you don't care for that Silkie boy that much to begin with.

With your second coop this might be easier than many people have, but set up a bachelor pad. Keep only boys in one. With no girls to fight over it's often not that bad.

I don't know what your goals are or what your facilities look like. I don't know what the right answer is for you. My goals are totally different from yours, I would not be in this situation to start with. But your goals should be what drives this, not mine. With my goals I'd only have one boy.

This was very informative thank you so much. Our original goal was to have eggs but we do enjoy their company and observing them be. Based on yours and everyone else's advice, we will house the boys in a separate coup at night and let them intermingle throughout the day (temporarily for now). We will start now either try to find another home for the cockerels or process for thanksgiving.

Thank you everyone. I love this community!!

 

[WallyG74]

So many long-winded replies. Eat the rooster.