Hen / rooster ratio

[alibraun]

I on mobile not PC n sometimes it works n sometimes not, 4 hrs later I could save it, go fig.

 

[Bullitt]

He is a 7 month old EE

I guess he is just a very picky rooster.

 

[poultrylubber]

I guess he is just a very picky rooster.

But he makes up for it by being a very good bodyguard and a sweety.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

What if someone is free ranging their flock during the day? It would be difficult to separate them.

When chickens are living naturally they are all eating the same thing. Why should pullets and cockerels be fed different food?

Or is a high-protein diet for the cockerels just good when you plan to use them for meat birds?

The high protein diet for cockerels is for eating them, yes. Otherwise, they can eat chick starter like the pullets. Obviously, if you are free-ranging them with no fences whatsoever, you cannot separate them. But if you're going to the trouble to process a chicken, I personally like to get as much meat as possible for my trouble.

 

[Michael Apple]

It is best to have as many hens as you can to minimize the chances the rooster will mate the hens too much and pull off their back feathers.

If you only have room for 6 to 8 hens, I would go with 8 hens. One rooster can mate with many hens, so get more hens if you have room and you want them.

They are good if they are all raised together from chicks.

Do you have a breed or breeds in mind?

X2.

 

[Luke 13V34]

I got 21 chicks, straight run. I can easily identify 3 of them as roosters (even at 3 weeks old) but I am fearful that there may be 2 more (Lord forbid any more!) I seen all the input on this thread and others about an ideal ratio being as high as possible and a minimum 1:8. What are the chances that 1:6 works out alright (even if the hens are overbred, I could care less as long as they are alive and not crippled by it)? I am assuming if I end up with a couple more roosters, I'll need to find a couple more hens (and since I have bantams, I am thinking I would get a couple big girls [standard] who could handle those pollo combates pico loco (small, crazy fighting chickens - feel free to use!).


However, I am in a more complex situation. They are being raised with 5 guineas, who I assume will become the dominant force in the run! They will be in a 440 square foot run with a couple hiding spots and a large amount of roosts with a pretty big coop. I seen someone say on another thread that their guineas broke up fights between roosters. What are the odds that they do this for me? What are the odds that they are more aggressive and dominate my roosters if anyone knows?

Quick summary: 6:1 okay? Guineas more aggressive than roosters - peace keepers or tyrants?