How Many Rosters ?!?!!

[Miz Mary]

I have a batch of 5 week bantams...........silkies, polish & sebrights ( 11 in all ).......... SO FAR, 1 is confirmed a roo.......... how many roo's can get along in a flock ???? Does it depend on the individual roo's ?? Im thinking 3 more will be roo's ........

 

[tammyd57]

How many roos can live together in harmony depends on several things. Not so much breed, but individual temperament, roo/hen ratio, space, time of year, number of hiding spots, etc. Free range vs. penned.
Mostly how much space the birds have. If they free range and have lots of places to get away from each other they tend to get along better with several roos together. If there are plenty of hens to go around they get along better.

 

[midget_farms]

You really want to be close to 10 hens per roo - but can get away with less. 3 out of 11 though is a bit much - I'd say for you 2 out of 10 (losing one roo) would probably work if they have space.

One roo will be the head guy - the other will not be & will sneak attack the hens (at least while adolescent). This will make the head roo angry & he will turn green & run around growling & smashing things - or just chase the other roo around. Just make sure they have enough space in the run for the two roos to not be forced to eyeball each other all the time.

More than that & things can get bad - Not 100% I'm sure plenty have successfully raised lots of roos together, but its better for them to not have that much stress.