Hen to Rooster Ratio and Fertile Egg Ratio

[jabowery]

We've got about 2 hens for every rooster and they seem to be having a lot of fun with each other this spring.

What percent of the eggs are likely to be fertile?

My wife and I have been tussling over whether we should be taking the eggs or letting the hens brood -- which they seem very willing to do, especially in our basement window wells. I'm prone to leave the eggs alone since the chicks would be far more valuable.

Also, since we don't have a controlled breeding situation, we're likely to get hybrids. How picky are the hens about straight breeding? How much of a loss of egg production can we expect from the hybrids? In other animals, F1 hybrids are good for meat, but F2 and above hybrids are to be avoided unless you're running a terminal cross program.

 

[ggrap]

Quote:
All of them. LOL.

 

[andalusn]

If you have a rooster then all the eggs should be fertile if nature is taking its natural course...

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I have 32 hens covered with 1 rooster and I've got about 95% fertility (there's one hen that HATES him and refuses to allow him to mate). He's a busy boy, hardly has time to crow. Usually people state 10-12 hens per roo and you'll be fine. With 2:1 ratio your hens might start to lose their back feathers... might want to invest in some saddles.

 

[ggrap]

So, seriously. If you want the majority of your eggs to be fertile, most will suggest about a 10-12 hen to roo ratio. You really have too many roos, they will be hard on your hens as they compete to be "top dog" and mate with them.

If you have some broody hens, it is always fun to have them raise the chicks for you. Very cute to watch. Keep in mind, half (and probably more) will be roos and not very valuable, unless you are using them for food.

Be careful about predators if you are letting them set in a window well.

Some breeders breed for hybrids on purpose. For example a Barred Rock Hen and Rhode Island Red Roo, produce a sexlink chick which when hatched will either have a white dot on the head or not. The white dot signifies a male. These hybrids are extremely good layers and have reduced or non existent broodiness trait. And no, these hybrids are not bred again to each other.

Not sure what you mean by "straight breeding", but the hens don't even care whose eggs they are hatching out or what breed the rooster is that is mating with them. Some hens will even adopt another hens chicks after they have hatched out.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What percent of the eggs are likely to be fertile?

Commercial operations that produce hatching eggs use one rooster for every 10 hens to get good fertility, but this is with a few hundred chickens in one flock. With yours, they should all be fertile.

Also, since we don't have a controlled breeding situation, we're likely to get hybrids. How picky are the hens about straight breeding? How much of a loss of egg production can we expect from the hybrids? In other animals, F1 hybrids are good for meat, but F2 and above hybrids are to be avoided unless you're running a terminal cross program

Roosters are even less picky than the hens, and the hens don't really care.

If the chickens are from good egg laying stock, the offspring will likely be good egglaying chickens. It is an inherited trait. I would not expect any drop in egg production in the first generation cross.

If you pick your good egg layers from that first generation cross and mate them, I would not expect any drop on egg production in the second generation. If you select poor egg producers and mate them, I would expect a drop in egg production.

 

[jabowery]

Quote:
Our dogs are both cattle dogs. Not even a pack of coyotes can handle this pair and they are on guard duty every night. We haven't lost any chickens since we stopped indulging them by letting them stay in with us after sunset.

The roosters have a job to do: The dogs want to "play" with the chickens -- but they stopped that when the roosters matured. Its true that the hens are losing a bit of back feathers but it isn't noticeable on but a couple of them. I suppose we could get by with fewer roosters now that the dogs have gotten the idea the chickens aren't toys.

I suppose if we let nature take its course, then what we'll end up with are hybrid strains that out-reproduce other strains -- which means more egg production when we decide to take the eggs rather than letting the hens brood.

Is that how it works in reality?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Not that they will necessarily outproduce other chickens, but you should wind up with chickens that do as well as their parents. Some may do better, some may do worse, but they should be in the same ballpark.