How many hens for two roosters

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

I have a lavender Orpington rooster and a French black coppper maran rooster and 8 hens I have 1 maran hen, 1 EE hen, 1 maran mix hen, 2 barred rock hens, 1 Dominique hen, 1 buff Orpington hen, and 1 speckled Sussex hen. My lavender orp kills silkies on purpose for some reason so I can’t get bantam hens or non tempature hardy breeds because the temperature ranges between -20 and 115 Fahrenheit. I know I need more hens I plan to hatch a few eggs this spring and buy some hens off a ladie I know. Any breed suggestions I have enough room for 25 chickens in my inclosed run and I also let them roam my yard when my neighbors dogs are put up.

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

My list of chickens

2 Barred Plymouth Rock hens, both laying, Sarah, 36 weeks old, and Hocus Pocus around 144 weeks


1 Dominque pullet, laying, Winifred, 36 weeks


1 Black Copper Maran rooster, mating, Hei Hei, 32 weeks old


1 Easter Egger pullet, laying, Jelly Bean, 32 weeks old


1 Lavender Orpington Roo, mating, Foghorn, 39 weeks old


1 Black copper Maran pullet, laying, and Chungus, 39 weeks old

1 BCM mix pullet, laying, mother clucker, 39 weeks old


1 Buff Orpington pullet, laying, Mrs. Priss, 36 weeks


1 Speckled Sussex pullet, laying, Mae, 36 weeks.





8 females 2 males

 

[Certified Chicken Lover]

Are you asking for breed suggestions or how many hens you should have per rooster? If you want breed suggestions it kind of depends on what you are wanting more hens for, do you want more eggs, dual purpose, etc. But for the hens/rooster there are mixed views on this subject. some people say ten hens to every rooster and some people say only six. I personally prefer ten hens to one rooster because I like to make sure my hens are not overly loved but it's really a personal decision.

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

Are you asking for breed suggestions or how many hens you should have per rooster? If you want breed suggestions it kind of depends on what you are wanting more hens for, do you want more eggs, dual purpose, etc. But for the hens/rooster there are mixed views on this subject. some people say ten hens to every rooster and some people say only six. I personally prefer ten hens to one rooster because I like to make sure my hens are not overly loved but it's really a personal decision.

My roosters had a spree when they first matured where they mated like crazy but now they don’t mate as often especially foggy the orp because he is bigger and it’s harder for him to mate because he’s fat and it wears him out and Hei Hei is just scared foggy will hurt him. I want to know what the most beautiful outcomes I can get out of them

 

[aart]

The 'rooster' to hen ratio of 1:10 that is often cited is primarily for fertility efficiency in commercial breeding facilities.

It doesn't mean that if a cockbird has 10 hens that he won't abuse or over mate them.

Many breeders keep pairs, trios, quads, etc ....short term and/or long term.

It all depends on the temperaments of the cock and hens and sometimes housing provided.

Backyard flocks can achieve good fertility with a larger ratio.

 

[Mrs. K]

The more roosters you have, the greater the chance of it going wrong. If they are fighting, terrorizing the girls then adding more full grown hens might help, (adding chicks will do nothing) but there is a strong chance it won't help. Once bad behavior starts with cockerels, it is too late to adjust it, without culling. You could separate the boys and give them each their own flock, but that needs to be now, not wait for you to build it.

IMO - I would not keep two roosters unless I HAD (not going to get) 25-30 hens. There just really is no need for more than one rooster in a typical backyard flock. Do know that occasionally, or even regularly letting them out for a bit of time will not compensate for overcrowding in the coop/run. IMO roosters need more room than hens.

So if you cannot cull roosters ( a lot of people can't) hatching out chicks becomes problematic. If you hatch out eggs, well at least and probably slightly more that 50% will be cockerels. Eventually you will have to deal with excess roosters if you follow your plan.

Getting more hens in the future by raising up chicks now, does not fix the problem of too many roosters for your set up now. Always solve for peace in your flock.


Mrs K

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

The 'rooster' to hen ratio of 1:10 that is often cited is primarily for fertility efficiency in commercial breeding facilities.

It doesn't mean that if a cockbird has 10 hens that he won't abuse or over mate them.

Many breeders keep pairs, trios, quads, etc ....short term and/or long term.

It all depends on the temperaments of the cock and hens and sometimes housing provided.

Backyard flocks can achieve good fertility with a larger ratio.

I have really chill roosters when it comes to each other and other chickens they don’t over mate and unless the hen wants to they won’t mate and the Orpington only has problems with silkies. My maran though is really sweet and calm with me and the other birds but the Orpington is aggressive to me and my family. We don’t cull unless one is suffering and if anything we would give one away. All my chickens have been raised together and are fine with each other and tend to ignore each other my lavender Orpington is 10lbs and my maran is around 8 or 9lbs my biggest hen is probably 8 lbs and smallest is probably around 6 or 7lbs

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

The more roosters you have, the greater the chance of it going wrong. If they are fighting, terrorizing the girls then adding more full grown hens might help, (adding chicks will do nothing) but there is a strong chance it won't help. Once bad behavior starts with cockerels, it is too late to adjust it, without culling. You could separate the boys and give them each their own flock, but that needs to be now, not wait for you to build it.

IMO - I would not keep two roosters unless I HAD (not going to get) 25-30 hens. There just really is no need for more than one rooster in a typical backyard flock. Do know that occasionally, or even regularly letting them out for a bit of time will not compensate for overcrowding in the coop/run. IMO roosters need more room than hens.

So if you cannot cull roosters ( a lot of people can't) hatching out chicks becomes problematic. If you hatch out eggs, well at least and probably slightly more that 50% will be cockerels. Eventually you will have to deal with excess roosters if you follow your plan.

Getting more hens in the future by raising up chicks now, does not fix the problem of too many roosters for your set up now. Always solve for peace in your flock.


Mrs K

if I get roosters from my eggs as babies I will most likely cull them or let them have full access to the yard to free range

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

I mean I don’t want to cull current flock members

We don’t cull unless one is suffering and if anything we would give one away.

 

[Mrs. K]

They are your chickens and you can do as you wish. I think you are still rather in the romance stage of having chickens. There are a lot of misconceptions that people tend to get from experiences with other pets.

• being raised together has almost no influence on long term behavior. They can get along this week, and not next week.
• chicks that you raise should be kept all their lives. Chickens change, the darling cockerel that you raised weeks ago is not the same bird when the hormones come on, many cockerels need to be culled.
• The way cockerels are acting now, is not an indicator to how they will act next week or even tomorrow. This forum is filled where the darling became the nightmare overnight.
• Roosters can attack other roosters, hens or people
• Inexperienced people often vastly underestimate the violence of aggressive roosters.
• If you let them out for an hour or two of free ranging it won't compensate for over crowding in the coop/run.

I would not call a rooster "chill" that is attacking my family. Why anyone would keep an aggressive rooster that attack the people that care for it is beyond me? If you have children less than 6 years old, those children can take an attack in the face, no child's face or eyes is worth keeping a rooster. An aggressive rooster most often becomes more and more violent. You might be able to give him away for a soup pot.

If you are going to have multiple roosters, you need to be able to cull. Or you can create a bachelors quarters, which works some of the time. If you can't cull birds, do just buy sex linked chicks and then you don't have the problem. Turning the extra cockerels out to just free range, means they leave your property or they terrorize you when you step outside.

AArt says it best, roosters are were the romance of chickens meets reality. And the reality often is not pretty. Probably not what you want to read, but pretty realistic.

Mrs K