How many Roos per hens?

[tcarson]

Hi all! So I was previously a suburban chicken keeper, with about 10 hens, for several years- went fantastic! Have recently moved to rural North Carolina 10+ acres and have tripled my flock count. The chickens are able to free range on close to five of those acres. Ordered all pullets and one roo, did order some Polish straight run. My dilemma now because we all know Sexting of chicks isn’t perfect- Two of my Polish are Roos-the one roo I ordered is still just a few days old. On top of that, the free chick McMurray threw in more than likely will be a roo.
I have a total of 30 chickens, 4 of which, possibly (more than likely) are roosters. Will this many Roos increase them being aggressive?, is this a healthy amount to maintain in the flock? I would appreciate any advice.

 

[Percheron chick]

You are probably fine with 4. It's pushing it. Do you have any adult hens that can teach teenage boys some manners? My best roosters got put in their place over and over by the big girls.

 

[Saveria]

So, you will have to try it and see to know how it will go for sure, just because the personality of roosters vary widely. You do need to be ready to intervene if some violence breaks out, so have an action plan in place.

If you had 4:30 as the ratio, I would also be concerned that they boys will over-mate the girls, and they will get bare backs or scratches. You usually want around a 1:10 ratio for that reason, but again, it depends on the roosters and how they decide to interact.

 

[tcarson]

You are probably fine with 4. It's pushing it. Do you have any adult hens that can teach teenage boys some manners? My best roosters got put in their place over and over by the big girls.

Yes. I have 10 older girls and the teenage polish,the rest are young chicks I will be integrating. I’m hoping since the Polish Roos are small, and seem to be very docile that there won’t be too much competition.

 

[tcarson]

So, you will have to try it and see to know how it will go for sure, just because the personality of roosters vary widely. You do need to be ready to intervene if some violence breaks out, so have an action plan in place.

If you had 4:30 as the ratio, I would also be concerned that they boys will over-mate the girls, and they will get bare backs or scratches. You usually want around a 1:10 ratio for that reason, but again, it depends on the roosters and how they decide to interact.

Yea that was my concern too for my girls. I’m hoping because the Polish brews are smaller and seem to be pretty docile right now that there won’t be too much fighting but definitely will have a plan in place in the event that happens. Thank you for your input.

 

[Saveria]

Yeah, it is definitely worth a try. You are probably right. I have found that you can't predict how it will go, and just have to see.