how many roos can I keep

[twin186421]

I have 20hens and 5 roos. Will this work or do some of the roost have to go?

 

[Ridgerunner]

What are your goals? What are your conditions and situation? How much room do you have and how do your keep them, in one pen or separated somehow? There is no one magic ratio that works for all of us. The age and personality of your individual chickens, hens as well as roosters, makes a difference.

My advice is to keep as few roosters as you can and still meet your goals. That’s not because you are guaranteed problems with more roosters, just that it is more likely you will have problems.

With my goals and set-up, I’d keep one rooster with 20 hens, but several people with different goals and conditions would keep more.

 

[twin186421]

I am trying to keep them for eggs but am going to grow my flock by hatching some eggs. I have barred rocks white rocks and new Hampshire. I plan on segregating a few hens with a rooster to try and keep the breed of the chicks pure. They are currently in a 8x10house with a 8x12 run. They are about 3 months old and have not had any problems yet.

 

[LindaB220]

I am trying to keep them for eggs but am going to grow my flock by hatching some eggs. I have barred rocks white rocks and new Hampshire. I plan on segregating a few hens with a rooster to try and keep the breed of the chicks pure. They are currently in a 8x10house with a 8x12 run. They are about 3 months old and have not had any problems yet.

Sounds like a plan to me. You can keep the roosters separated in a batchelor pen until you get ready to breed. Try to keep them pure for your future breeders. Also you can put your New Hampshire rooster with both kinds of rocks and get both red and black sex links. That's your money maker. Two small pens of 3 x 8' can house your best 2 or 3 hens of each sort. Every day put your rooster in for a day or so. Then put him back into the boy's pen. Two or three times over a 2 wk period and get eggs for those 2 weeks and another 2 after that. The hen saves sperm for 2-3 weeks. Lots of eggs to incubate. Mark each pen with a color red or green etc. Then mark ea egg with the color of the pen for your records. Go to Google/Books and search for breeding poultry. Lots of free books. Old but valuable. Good luck Linda

Edited: You don't need a rooster for eggs. They will come naturally.