How many roosters

[yoker]

thanks for all of the replies I was thinking 2 roos per breed too so I guess that is what I will do. I am going to have at least 3 hens per breed.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

So how do you deal with the housing arrangement if you have multiple roosters? Do you pen them in the same coop and run or do you have another coop/run for roo #2?

 

[Pathfinders]

Quote:
It really depends on the breed. Some breeds are calm enough that you can keep multiple males together even as adults, some not so much.

For my Dutch, I separate out the young males at about 4 months, and put them in the Bachelor Pen. As long as they can't see or hear any females they are pretty good together for about a year. Once they're older, I do like to separate them though, as they will fight.

Buckeyes seem to (for the most part) get along just fine with each other at any age, so I don't separate them out. Any that are too aggressive with other males go down the road...

I keep separate birds either in tractors, or if they're bantams, in large cages in the garage (which is my chicken barn as my husband has the barn barn for the horses.)

 

[DawnSuiter]

Quote:
They get a separate pen & run if possible. This year I anticipated and got a bunch of "extra" pullets to grow up and keep the "extra" roosters happy.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

It really depends. If the males are equal in what I want in my flock, then sometimes I put them together without an issue. If they aren't, they get separated.

Most times I do the separation so that the males won't fight or overbreed the females.

 

[Megs]

this summer i only had one rooster per breed, so i hatched a bunch this summer (from my eggs or bought eggs from nice stock of unrelated lines) and next summer i plan on keeping 2 roos of each, im working on setting up decent sized wire cages to house the new boys (and each will get a hen with him) as i dont have coop/run space for multiples of each breed seeing as how i have 7 seperate pens (a few are same breed different color, but have own pens)

 

[tadkerson]

My Little Sister's Farm :

Depends on your goal really. Your breeding rooster is more important than any hen could ever be. He is 90% of your genetics.

I do not understand this statement. Would you please explain how you determined the 90%.

For the record I also keep two males for each project. I will keep two roosters together if they grew up together and were never separated. It has been my experience that the males alraedt know the pecking order and do not fight. Once they are separated and then put back together it is not a good thing. I have had roosters blinded from fighting.

Tim​

 

[yoker]

I built little wire cages above my breeding pens for my Roosters.
I find that my Buff Orpingtons are gentle enough that they get along with my other Roos. But RIRs (rhode lsland reds) don't.
I have a barred Rock and a BO that get along great, even after they were separated.

 

[My Little Sister's Farm]

Quote:
I do not understand this statement. Would you please explain how you determined the 90%.

Tim

Let's assume you have 1 roo and 10 hens. 1 hen's DNA is in 1 egg per day, tops. 10 days she will have laid 10 eggs. Your rooster has bred with each hen and each has laid 10 eggs. His DNA is in 100 eggs. This is simplistic, but it works to explain. If 1 hen produces a trait, bad or good quality, 10% of your chicks have this trait (assuming it's dominant, etc.). If your rooster passes on that trait though, wouldn't all 100 have it?

This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your rooster. I wasn't trying to say a hen is worthless, obviously she is important, but from a "spreading the genetics game" the rooster gets more range. A trait you would over look in your hen should be treated as more serious an issue in your rooster.