Too many variables for a straight forward answer, I'm afraid.
Right now I have 2 mature roosters, 2 cockerels, and 12 hens/pullets living together. There is no fighting, and the hens/pullets are not showing evidence of overbreeding- but here are the caveats:
1. Of my 2 mature roosters, the younger/smaller one has always accepted his place as "second best". He occasionally breeds the other rooster's hens; in generally, he breeds much less than my dominant rooster.
2. The 2 cockerels are just starting to come of age, so I'm not sure that they won't be a problem in the future- at least one is destined for freezer camp, right now they are just commingled with the others they were raised with in the flock while they grow out a bit.
3. They have lots of space free, which helps avoid confrontations. It also allows the hens the opportunity to avoid the roosters if they want to! For 16 birds, their run is roughly 75 ft x 75 ft (electric netting), with multiple feed, water, and shade/shelter areas. They also get to free range our 2000 acre property when we are home. Their actual coop is only 30sq feet, but I'm up at 5:30a to let them out and they only get locked back in at night- so other than to sleep or lay they don't really hang out there. I also have some interior pens within the run that allows me to separate off breeding groups for when I want purebred fertile eggs, while allowing all the birds to still have fence line contact.
If you search on this thread, you will find wildly varying experiences on this topic- some flocks do just fine with multiple roosters, others not so much. Some roosters are more tolerant than others (as mine clearly are) and any time we've added roosters its been as baby chicks raised with the flock (generally these go out as table birds). I've resolved myself to the idea that they are welcome to stay as long as they all get along. Otherwise, their date with the freezer will be moved up accordingly.
Right now I have 2 mature roosters, 2 cockerels, and 12 hens/pullets living together. There is no fighting, and the hens/pullets are not showing evidence of overbreeding- but here are the caveats:
1. Of my 2 mature roosters, the younger/smaller one has always accepted his place as "second best". He occasionally breeds the other rooster's hens; in generally, he breeds much less than my dominant rooster.
2. The 2 cockerels are just starting to come of age, so I'm not sure that they won't be a problem in the future- at least one is destined for freezer camp, right now they are just commingled with the others they were raised with in the flock while they grow out a bit.
3. They have lots of space free, which helps avoid confrontations. It also allows the hens the opportunity to avoid the roosters if they want to! For 16 birds, their run is roughly 75 ft x 75 ft (electric netting), with multiple feed, water, and shade/shelter areas. They also get to free range our 2000 acre property when we are home. Their actual coop is only 30sq feet, but I'm up at 5:30a to let them out and they only get locked back in at night- so other than to sleep or lay they don't really hang out there. I also have some interior pens within the run that allows me to separate off breeding groups for when I want purebred fertile eggs, while allowing all the birds to still have fence line contact.
If you search on this thread, you will find wildly varying experiences on this topic- some flocks do just fine with multiple roosters, others not so much. Some roosters are more tolerant than others (as mine clearly are) and any time we've added roosters its been as baby chicks raised with the flock (generally these go out as table birds). I've resolved myself to the idea that they are welcome to stay as long as they all get along. Otherwise, their date with the freezer will be moved up accordingly.
