how many hens?

[cami]

how many hens does a rooster need to be happy?

 

[justtoni44]

Here is my perspective.............The question should be,how many hens per rooster to keep the hens from being stressed out and beat up by a rooster looking for love.
I do not have the answer...someone will.but I have 5 roosters with about 35 hens.
I had a rooster with three hens once and he was really rough on them.
Good Luck

 

[ShrekDawg]

i dont really know much about this but i think someone else said they had like 1 roo with 4-5 hens or maybe it was 5-6 hens but something like that. good luck

 

[Sunshyne276]

I've heard 1 rooster per 10 hens. It really depends on the temperment of the rooster, in my opinion.
Some are more aggressive with the hens, regardless how many hens he has! Not all, of course!

 

[afishel]

I came across this yesterday as I was looking for info on using an incubator.

website was http://www.surehatch.com/Egg-Incubation-info.htm

It has a whole section of Q&A

5. How many females can one male service?
One male egg producing chicken (Leghorn) can service 10 - 15 females. One male dual purpose chicken (Rhode Island Red) can service 6-8 females.


SO as other stated it depends o the purpose of the chicken

 

[cami]

ok
do you think a silkie will be ok with just 3 hens?
2 are silky and 1 is a BO

 

[afishel]

Your hens may come to look a little bit rough. I would think I dunno my dad has 1 roo (RIR) to 8 hens and a few of them look rough.
he has bared their butts a time or two.

 

[33yardbirds]

When I'm done picking and choosing my roos I'll have 3 to 23 hens, even so they still will have favorite hens that will take a beating. Just have to watch them. All Rocks.

 

[cami]

ok ill just keep a eye on him and will chicken saddles help?

 

[gardenak]

You could also try de-spuring him and that will help too. I'll try to find the link to the thread I read about de-spuring.