How Many Hens to Keep A Fellow Happy

[45lk9p459gm-w]

I want to have just a few fertilized eggs to stick under a broody hen when needed, and to trade to other chicken folks for … stuff. Don’t need many, but the supply needs to be steady.

I don’t want to deal with a rooster that has control of the whole chicken yard so I want to have a dedicated coop and run for a rooster and a few hens. That way I know the eggs coming from that coop should be fertile and I can use them as needed.

My question is: What is the fewest number of hens needed to make a rooster feel like the king of his coop without a lot of social chicken issues to deal with.

I will most likely be using Dominique's.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

5 or 6 seems like a good number... he can handle more, and may be happier with 7 or 8... but 5 is my favorite number.... And you'll have lots of extra.

 

[Mrs. K]

Chicken egg supply is not really steady. It comes and goes, depending on the time of year, and the age of the bird.

How many other birds do you have?

Another solution (which to me would be easier to manage. Is to keep the flock together all the time, and when you want Dominique fertilized eggs, just separate your top two or three birds, and collect their eggs for a couple of days.

Roosters don't really get the idea that these are my hens, and those are not... roosters what ALL the hens.

Mrs K

 

[45lk9p459gm-w]

Chicken egg supply is not really steady. It comes and goes, depending on the time of year, and the age of the bird.

How many other birds do you have?

Another solution (which to me would be easier to manage. Is to keep the flock together all the time, and when you want Dominique fertilized eggs, just separate your top two or three birds, and collect their eggs for a couple of days.

Roosters don't really get the idea that these are my hens, and those are not... roosters what ALL the hens.

Mrs K

Currently we have 10 Leghorn-mix hens for eggs. We will be adding a dual purpose bird for meat later on. These will probably be Dominique's.

Keeping the flock together and letting the roo have a hen or two when fertile eggs are needed has merit but sounds a little unbalanced over all to me.

Knowing that a roo wants all the hens is why he gets his own coop and run with a couple of hens to keep everything balanced out and happy.

If the fertile eggs aren't needed for hatching, or trading they will be added to the over all egg production.

The main reason I want a supply of fertile eggs available at all times is because I don't want to wake up one morning and find, for some reason, that eggs/chicks, along with everything else, aren't available any longer. Could Happen .... Did Happen

 

[Iluveggers]

Currently we have 10 Leghorn-mix hens for eggs. We will be adding a dual purpose bird for meat later on. These will probably be Dominique's.

Keeping the flock together and letting the roo have a hen or two when fertile eggs are needed has merit but sounds a little unbalanced over all to me.

Knowing that a roo wants all the hens is why he gets his own coop and run with a couple of hens to keep everything balanced out and happy.

If the fertile eggs aren't needed for hatching, or trading they will be added to the over all egg production.

The main reason I want a supply of fertile eggs available at all times is because I don't want to wake up one morning and find, for some reason, that eggs/chicks, along with everything else, aren't available any longer. Could Happen .... Did Happen

Do your leghorns lay white eggs? If so, you’ll know which are the pure Domoniques w Domonique rooster because they’ll be brown.

 

[aart]

If the fertile eggs aren't needed for hatching, or trading they will be added to the over all egg production.

Just let the male live with all the girls.
It's simpler that way.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

No reason you can't eat fertilized eggs. One young rooster can easily cover ten hens with great fertility, even covering more than 20 hens, I've had near 80% fertility. I'd house with, and just accept fertilized eggs from the whole flock.

The advantage there is that, when you do need to hatch, you aren't stretching incubation out over a long period, gathering hatching eggs from 1 or 2 fertile hens at a rate of 1 to 2 eggs each, every 2 to 3 days (depending on breed, season, and frequency of lay). Dominiques are reputedly very infrequent layers, often less than one egg per two days on various charts and references... (I've not owned any Dominiques myself, can't type from experience)

 

[45lk9p459gm-w]

Ideas are so fragile .... and you guys just kicked this one apart for sure.

Today is a good day to plot an plan so I will rethink this little adventure and see where it might go.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Chickassan]

Not true, Dominiques lay very regularly if they are in good conditions and even lay throughout winter and moulting "at least here they do."
These however aren't confined to coop and run.
Really unless you have major predators that breeds talents are wasted by keeping them cooped.

No reason you can't eat fertilized eggs. One young rooster can easily cover ten hens with great fertility, even covering more than 20 hens, I've had near 80% fertility. I'd house with, and just accept fertilized eggs from the whole flock.

The advantage there is that, when you do need to hatch, you aren't stretching incubation out over a long period, gathering hatching eggs from 1 or 2 fertile hens at a rate of 1 to 2 eggs each, every 2 to 3 days (depending on breed, season, and frequency of lay). Dominiques are reputedly very infrequent layers, often less than one egg per two days on various charts and references... (I've not owned any Dominiques myself, can't type from experience)

 

[Mrs. K]

If you want meat, and you can do two coops, it would be best to do meat birds. Meat birds create meat efficiently. Everyone likes the idea of a dual purpose bird, and when I was getting started, I too went with a dual purpose bird. (I still love a BO hen in my flock) but truthfully, a dual purpose bird is not real good at laying, and not real good at meat production. More meat than a layer... but not a lot more.

If you are afraid of the future - then go with a slower growing meat bird, there are meat birds that will reproduce, and produce a nice table bird, but they are going to take more feed.

I have had the dominique - some people love them, I was not that impressed. To each his own.

Ideas and plans are fun to make, but good to adjust. But do give things a try.

Mrs K