How many roosters do I need?

[jjdward]

I plan on cutting back on the breeds I have and just have a few. I plan on keeping 5 hens of each breed/color but how many roosters do I need to have per breed/color? I have heard of people keeping a few "spare" roosters for each breed but I'm not sure I have the space. Whatcha think?

 

[RAREROO]

1 rooster per 5 hens would be great. But if the breeds you have are rare and wouldn't easily be possible to get a replacement if you lost one, it is good to keep a back up.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

This is my first year seperating breeding pens, so please don't take what I say as expert; that said, following much research and advice from here, I have one roo per 5 hens in seperate pens, so far all eggs are fertile and all hens are happy.
I have one pen with a few extra hens that need to go, and I have noticed some infertile eggs coming from there; and, I have one pen with only two hens and the roo is working them pretty hard. Also, I have a back up roo as a spare for one of my harder to get breeds, he's going crazy (and driving me nuts) with no hens of his own.

 

[math ace]

We had a problem with too many roos and our girls QUIT laying. A few roos ended up in our freezer and now the girls are back to producing. Within 10 days of the roos disappearance, the girls were laying up a storm.


NOW, I don't plan on having any extra roos.
To keep a mix in the blood lines, I plan on replacing my roos every couple of years.
I am limiting myself to one roo for each breed.
I like a 5 - 7 hens to one roo. The roo will have his favorite girls

I understand that some breeds don't have a high fertility rate.
The ratio of hens to roos must be smaller with those breeds.