Hens without Roos?

[matthewschickens]

Well, here is another question. I will have 38 hens in the coop. How many roos should I put in with them? I was thinking 2 or 3.

 

[farmerlor]

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I agree. I have 15 hens to one roo and the girlies are plenty happy, well-protected and FERTILE. He's got so many girls to choose from that no one hen is getting picked on to the point of losing too many feathers. I love my roos even the mean Buff Orp roo in the BO pen.

 

[farmerlor]

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I have 32 hens in my EE pen and we have two roos there. I noticed in this last batch that went into the incubator that I had a couple EE eggs that were not fertile but that was out of nearly 40 eggs. I can accept that ratio because I think another roo would just be too much in that pen. Right now everything is calm and running smoothly, I hate to rock the boat.

 

[Southernbelle]

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Agree! A GOOD roo is worth his weight in gold: he protects them and keeps the peace in the flock. I agree to get rid of a roo that is causing problems, but I will always have a good roo for my flocks just because I love them.

 

[KKatknap]

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I think that ratio is great.

 

[KKatknap]

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You're all good.

It wasn't just you. Many posts made it so far imbalanced that I thought they needed spoken up for. I wouldn't want newbies reading this to get the wrong impression.

 

[patnjess]

yeah if your roo is bad get rid of him, and pray that the other one is good. we had two. one was evil, and I do mean evil. and the other one couldn't do much.
Now that the other met his timely death, this one watches them, I never see him eat, he lets his ladies eats and marches guard, I let them free range during the day, and the only time i see him get loud, is if one wanders off to far then he goes get all big with wings sreading out and yelling at those lost chickens and chasing them back to the flock. He keeps them in line, and now they all follow us, and are so sweet and loving, changed the whole flocks personality.

 

[Garden Gal]

I love both my roos - they are in separate yards with their own gals... however, we are probably culling our RIR roo tomorrow, and I'm sick over it. He has TWELVE girls all to himself, but prefers the five RIR gals over the six BR (although he does cover them as well - not just as much). The hen's backs are a mess and this is leading to pecking, bleeding, etc... I'm at my wits end. This boy is absolutely beautiful, but much larger than his gals and is simply beating them up. He isn't mean - just "too much" I guess. I sure wish I knew someone to take him where he could free range with 20 gals...

 

[Roy]

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I have the same exact problem, not sure what the answer is. Some of my girls are looking pretty bad...

 

[saltiboys]

I let my girls free range, so owning a rooster for me is a must. He announces any sign of danger and when the "treat lady" comes out, he makes sure the skidish ladies get a few treats too. I keep hearing about bare backs on chickens. So far my roo, a golden campine, is a very gentle lover! He gently pins them down, does his busness and moves on; no loss of feathers. He can be a little pushy with me on occasion, usually just first thing in the morning, but by the afternoon he'll eat out of my hand for snacks.

I agree with the other posters. You just need a good one.