I need options; roosters to hen ratio.

[AmyJane725]

If you only have 2 roos, maybe they will do courtship and the hens keep them in their place since they don't have any older rapist to learn that bad behavior from. Roos will follow Roosters around and learn from them, good habits and bad.

I'm hoping my cockerels are inherently good, since I don't have any old roos for them to learn from. I guess it's good there's no bad influences around though.

 

[NNYchick]

What you need is an enforcer hen. I have a Serama Hen that hangs out with the silkie hens and Silkie rooster. She is funny we have a cockerel 4 months of age (in the background) and if he tries to join the group she chases him all around the yard. It’s the funniest thing to watch this tiny chicken sending the boy packing that’s 3 x her size.

But all seriousness, something’s to think about are what is your winter space going to be like? Will they all have space to work out any differences. I made a big mistake last fall and had late hatch leaving me with grow outs that came of age at the end of winter. I ended up with 8 boys it was like romper room in the coop, no serious fights but enough stress. As soon as it got warm enough I started free ranging the boys and finding them homes. But I learned my lesson. Just because they are Bantam doesn’t make them any less likely to fight. Some Bantam breeds are very territorial and have napoleon complex. Keep a close eye on the flock the next few weeks and months.

 

[Earthmamafl]

Before I moved I had a flock of about 40 mixed breed birds and at least 10 of them male because I hatched them myself. They all got along peacefully. My older welsummer Roo was the lead male of the group and the rest all just got along. There were one or two hens with feather damage and I got them aprons. But I think people are too quick to say that you will have problems with multiple roosters. It all just depends on the personality of the birds.​

Just to give everyone one update, I did end up down sizing the roosters from 5 to 3 Roos. Mostly because of the noise. Found a good home and was able to place those two Roos together they did so well together. And yes I believe your right. I mean I know it can be a problem. But I’ve heard of people that have had multiple Roos and they just established there pecking order before I gave the two up. What I really wanted to know is if it made a difference if all the Roos are bantams and the girls are mixed between large fawls and bantams, is there less of a danger factor? When we had the other two I saw them mate one of the big hens she was tired of him so she pushed him off and jumped on him when he tried to go again. As far as I’ve noticed from the 3 Roos that are left each male has his own set of hens and they mostly stay there. I’ve not really seen the Roos fight at all they actually get along better than the girls do, and share a lot of the food can that be really that bad.

 

[Earthmamafl]

What you need is an enforcer hen. I have a Serama Hen that hangs out with the silkie hens and Silkie rooster. She is funny we have a cockerel 4 months of age (in the background) and if he tries to join the group she chases him all around the yard. It’s the funniest thing to watch this tiny chicken sending the boy packing that’s 3 x her size.
View attachment 1841383
But all seriousness, something’s to think about are what is your winter space going to be like? Will they all have space to work out any differences. I made a big mistake last fall and had late hatch leaving me with grow outs that came of age at the end of winter. I ended up with 8 boys it was like romper room in the coop, no serious fights but enough stress. As soon as it got warm enough I started free ranging the boys and finding them homes. But I learned my lesson. Just because they are Bantam doesn’t make them any less likely to fight. Some Bantam breeds are very territorial and have napoleon complex. Keep a close eye on the flock the next few weeks and months.

I live in Florida it pretty much never gets cold. And it’s funny that you said something about enforcer hen I have like 3 of those. Some times that gets to be a pain in the ass... pardoned my bluntness. They where technically 3 separate packs before we got the chicks. After we got the babies those 3 hens picked there groups. This is going to sound crazy but no lie During the day if I have move the flock I get those 3 and the rest just fly over. They even take care of the roosters when there being to though. Oooo one pointer I’ve noticed works moving the flock. A broomstick works well... don’t hit them just use it around them to guide them to where you want. If works 75% of the time the rest of the time dried worms

 

[NNYchick]

I live in Florida it pretty much never gets cold. And it’s funny that you said something about enforcer hen I have like 3 of those. Some times that gets to be a pain in the ass... pardoned my bluntness. They where technically 3 separate packs before we got the chicks. After we got the babies those 3 hens picked there groups. This is going to sound crazy but no lie During the day if I have move the flock I get those 3 and the rest just fly over. They even take care of the roosters when there being to though. Oooo one pointer I’ve noticed works moving the flock. A broomstick works well... don’t hit them just use it around them to guide them to where you want. If works 75% of the time the rest of the time dried worms

Yep they are ruler of the flock. I also guide my younger ones with a rake, never touching them just block them so they go the direction I want them to go in. My rooster goes in and sees what treats I put in and calls the older girls, they start making there way there but they are silkies and are so slow we end up picking them up and carrying them because we would be waiting forever for them to mosey there way to the coop.

 

[EggWalrus]

I live in Florida it pretty much never gets cold. And it’s funny that you said something about enforcer hen I have like 3 of those. Some times that gets to be a pain in the ass... pardoned my bluntness. They where technically 3 separate packs before we got the chicks. After we got the babies those 3 hens picked there groups. This is going to sound crazy but no lie During the day if I have move the flock I get those 3 and the rest just fly over. They even take care of the roosters when there being to though. Oooo one pointer I’ve noticed works moving the flock. A broomstick works well... don’t hit them just use it around them to guide them to where you want. If works 75% of the time the rest of the time dried worms

I too have a "Chicken Stick" that I use to herd the roosters out of the pen. The older boys, I can just point it towards the door and they will file out. They know the routine. But most of the younger ones I have to just lay it against them and they'll go the way I steer them. They're learning. Then I also have a few game roos that are hard headed and we'll not follow the directions of the "Chicken Stick", they make me catch them by hand.

 

[awizkey]

I started with 8 chicks. 2 of my white leghorns ended up being roos. They pestered the hens with the mating so bad they wouldn't lay. I kept the "nicer" one and within a few days they were laying again. I would just monitor the situation, but downsizing the amount of roos will be the likely outcome. Hope I am wrong! Good luck

 

[Earthmamafl]

I started with 8 chicks. 2 of my white leghorns ended up being roos. They pestered the hens with the mating so bad they wouldn't lay. I kept the "nicer" one and within a few days they were laying again. I would just monitor the situation, but downsizing the amount of roos will be the likely outcome. Hope I am wrong! Good luck

I did down sizing the Roos from 5 to 3 and it seems like everything is much more peaceful. Plus I have 3 of those enforcer hans that keep those Roos in line. I actually saw one of the hens kick of of the roosters when another hen was being chased

 

[Earthmamafl]

I started with 8 chicks. 2 of my white leghorns ended up being roos. They pestered the hens with the mating so bad they wouldn't lay. I kept the "nicer" one and within a few days they were laying again. I would just monitor the situation, but downsizing the amount of roos will be the likely outcome. Hope I am wrong! Good luck

I ended up getting two chicks that we’re supposed to be crossed with a California gray rooster and a leghorn I’m almost 100% sure there hens but those two are kinda of intense and I never have a hard time catching them. But they do good with the rest of the flock and they haven’t gone after any people yet so that’s good

 

[Shadrach]

I don't believe it has got much to do with 'personality'. I believe it's got a lot more to do with how you keep and manage your flock.
In one of the posts above it sounds to me like the gang mating is cockerels rather than roosters and if you're managing your flock properly this just shouldn't happen.
Think for a moment. Essentially the inherent instincts and the resultant behavior of todays chicken hasn't changed much from their ancestors the Jungle fowl. What has changed is the keeping conditions we force them to live in. You don't have to take my word for this, there have been plenty of studies on genetics and the changes the chicken has undergone over the years.
Sure, if you chuck a randomly selected bunch of chickens in a single coop with no established adults and sense of belonging to a particular group you'll get mayhem. You would with any creature including humans. Having them free range may help some but it's having an established hierarchy and flock stability that keeps order.
You can keep a 1:1 ratio provided you house them separately.
You can keep 1:3 ratios very easily with no over mating problems. You just need to keep the groups separate. If you free range and provide coops they'll sort themselves out.
I just don't hear these horror stories where I live.