How many hens will I need?

[Taj_MaChicken]

We have 13 10-12 week old chickies in our coop. 1 is a known cockerel. 1 is a *possible* but very likely cockerel. They've grown up together, and the possible cockerel is a bantam. I don't think there will be an issue with them getting along.

We also have 3 ducklings and a 4 week old chickie that are currently quarantined but will be in a separate coop for the time being, or forever. (The chick thinks it is a duck and is extremely codependent on the duck). Said chickie is a kinda possible cockerel, but fingers crossed it turns out to be a pullet who is just getting her wattles in at a young age, because her comb isn't turning pink.

We will eventually free range. We have 4 acres. But they are currently confined to the coop/run during the day. We let them out in the evenings, weather permitting. Our chicken coop is 8×8, and the duck house is 4x4.

DO I NEED MORE FEMALES?

 

[aart]

It's not about how many females a number of males need,
it's about how many males do you need in your flock to meet your chickeneering goals.
The answer to that is, probably.... one... or none.
IMO if you don't want to hatch, you don't need a male at all.
If you do want to hatch, better get savvy with how to get rid of excess males.
You can't fix a 'too many males' issue with more females.
Multiple males are almost always a problem...
...even with lots of females and, more importantly, lots of coop space.


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
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

 

[Chickassan]

No you shouldn't need more. You might need more coop space but not more females.
Sadly barring a miracle keeping three males will likely be more trouble than you'll be prepared to deal with.
I'd start picking a keeper and rehome the others, just to simplify things.

 

[Mrs. K]

It sounds like it is your first year with chickens, that being the case I too would recommend no roosters. In my opinion, roosters take quite a bit of experience. I totally understand how you love these rooster chicks, they are adorable and outgoing in a friendly manner. Most inexperienced people completely underestimate how violent a rooster can be.

If you have young children in your house or as visitors, roosters often will attack them first. Children under the age of 6 frequently take the attack in the face, especially children inexperienced with chickens. Roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people.

My point is, you have years to enjoy having chickens, get some experience with just the hens, and later add a rooster if you want.

I know you want us to say, that if you get this special number of hens, then all the roosters will get along, and be the sweet darling they are now. This forum is full of posts where the darling becomes the nightmare, seemingly overnight. It really wasn't overnight, there were signals all along, but inexperienced people don't recognize them.

Mrs K

 

[Folly's place]

All good advice! Also, your coop is on the crowded side, so removing a couple or three birds would be a good thing anyway. Is your duckling a male? That's a bad combination with chickens, especially if he thinks he should associate with them. No cross mating!
Mary

 

[Taj_MaChicken]

Thank you everyone for your advice.

We weren't planning on having any roos yet, but who ever does the sexing for RK... well, I guess they say 90% accuracy? We figured we'd end up with 1, and the HBIC keeps him in check. The 2nd one, well, we are just finding about because he's a polish.

I have no idea about the sex of the ducklings because they're still so young.

We have no children, and unfortunately, there will be no children. And visitors are few and far between.

I'm no stranger to how quickly an animal, or person, can turn violent; I have multiple scars to show for it.

I just didn't know if there were more female chickens, that would make it easier to keep a 2nd roo. The possible 3rd would probably need to go; we took it in for a friend, but if we end up with drakes, or if it's male we'll have too much going on.