Mating Roosters with Hens. Rotating.

[ChickenMechanic]

So I have two few hens per rooster per breed. I have RIR Bantam, Silke, Jersey Giant, Faverolles. Each breed has a rooster and a 1-3 hens. I put the rooster with its breed of hens for a few hours every evening.

I haven't seen any mating. I know I can break apart an egg to see if it is fertile. But my hens quite laying eggs. Introducing roosters every evening disturbs the pecking order and I think my chickens are getting disturbed, stopping egg production. With no eggs to really check for fertility, I am not sure when to stop my introduction of roosters in the evening. And I know from experience it can take up to a week or more of peaceful existence for my girls to start laying again.

What do you guys think? Even though I don't see anything happening, do you think it is going on behind my back when I'm not around? How long would you suggest I keep introducing my roosters to make sure the job is done? Whats your experience with two few hens for one rooster and mating?

Thanks.

 

[A Chicken Owner]

A rooster per 1-3 hens is way too many roosters. You only need one rooster per 12 hens. Having too many roosters will disturb hens (leading to a severe drop in egg production as you said) and hens may receive serious injuries which could kill hens. Serious injuries are created by too many matings in a short period of time.

 

[FeatheredFreind]

I too have too many rooster to hens with my silkies. I try to let the hens out to free range first thing every morning because that is when the roos seem to be at their worst/roughest time of the day. This gives the hens time to eat and the roos time to settle down. I find that most of the girls prefer to be back in the run with the rest of the flock. They will pace back and forth trying to get back in. I have a few more hens coming of age here soon so I am hoping that helps. Amazingly all my roos get along. They all stick together. I guess I am just going to have to divide the run up. Do you have separate pens? Do you introduce them in a separate breeding pen all together? Let me know if you find something that works for you.

 

[ChickenMechanic]

A rooster per 1-3 hens is way too many roosters. You only need one rooster per 12 hens. Having too many roosters will disturb hens (leading to a severe drop in egg production as you said) and hens may receive serious injuries which could kill hens. Serious injuries are created by too many matings in a short period of time.

Thanks for the reply. I do know that there are not enough hens. As I said above I introduce the rooster in the evening for a couple of hours then remove him. I just want to know if they will mate? I haven't seen anything, but I'm not out there all evening. I am watching my girls closely for any injury and have not seen any at all. They have all day away from the roosters until the evening when I introduce him for a couple of hours.

 

[ChickenMechanic]

I too have too many rooster to hens with my silkies. I try to let the hens out to free range first thing every morning because that is when the roos seem to be at their worst/roughest time of the day. This gives the hens time to eat and the roos time to settle down. I find that most of the girls prefer to be back in the run with the rest of the flock. They will pace back and forth trying to get back in. I have a few more hens coming of age here soon so I am hoping that helps. Amazingly all my roos get along. They all stick together. I guess I am just going to have to divide the run up. Do you have separate pens? Do you introduce them in a separate breeding pen all together? Let me know if you find something that works for you.

Yes I have multiple chicken tractors set up. One for all my roosters, one for my bantams, and one for standards. Eventually as my flock grows I'll have a pen for each breed. It works pretty good.