How many birds in a flock?

[Princess Guinea]

I have a wonderful Buff Orpington rooster and just bought him 2 hens - but now Im wondering if I should get more hens. one hen seems to be left out and the other is a favorite. Any suggestions on a perfect number of hens per rooster - this is a pet flock.

 

[Odem0409]

10-15 hens per rooster. If you get less the rooster will "mate" with the two too much and will cause the feathers on their back to become bare.

 

[donrae]

How large is your coop/run? That's going to be the critical limitation as to how many birds.

There's no one answer. Some do fine with one hen and one rooster, some roosters have favorite hens and overmate a specific hen even when they have a dozen others to choose from. No perfect answer.

If the hens are still pretty new, I'd just leave things as they are for a while and see how everyone settles in. Remember, every time you bring in new birds you A) upset the pecking order and stress the flock B) expose your current birds to whatever illness or parasites the new birds might be carrying.

 

[Princess Guinea]

Thank you

 

[Mahlzeit]

I would say ideally 5-10 hens for him.

 

[offgridhermit]

He is beautiful! I've been wondering what kind of rooster to get next year.