New chicken owner help with rooster/hen ratio

[LaFleche]

I am new to chickens and hatched my first batch

I have a young son and have kids around so aggression won’t fly.

In your case it might be best to rehome or eat all of the cockerels until you gain some chicken experience.

With a young son and lots of children around displaying their natural behaviour (running, screaming, kicking balls, beating the ground with sticks etc.), I would consider it a safety hazard to keep the cockerels/roosters around, as any of these behaviours can trigger an attack that might cause severe damage to a child (eyes!).

 

[Ridgerunner]

To me the boy to girl ratio is pretty unimportant. If the boys are going to fight over 1 girl they will fight over 100 girls. The ratio doesn't matter. You can have over-mated girls and barebacked girls whether you have a ratio of 1 to 1 or 1 to 25 or more. Some roosters can keep 25 or more girls laying fertile eggs, some have trouble covering 4 or 5. We each have different goals and manage them differently. Each chicken has it's own personality. We get different results because we are each in different circumstances.

Why do you want any boys? What are your goals with chickens and how do boys fit into those goals? The only reason you need a male is if you want fertile eggs. Anything else is just personal preference. Nothing wrong with personal preference, I have a few of those myself. But that is a choice, not a need. My normal suggestion is to keep as few boys as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems with more boys but the more you have the more likely you are to have problems.

One really important criteria in how chickens tend to get along is room. The tighter the space the more likely you are to have behavioral issues, even with an all girls flock. With boys it can get even worse.

Before too much longer yours will enter puberty. That is when it is likely to get really wild. The boys' hormones kick in and they all want to be top chicken. That can mean a lot of fighting. It can mean they mate the pullets a lot, even if the pullets don't want to mate. Watching cockerels and pullets go through puberty is often not for the faint of heart. I strongly suggest you have a place prepared so you can isolate some or all of the boys from the girls on a moments notice. It can get that bad pretty quickly.

Some people keep all their boys have a bachelor pad. That is a separate coop and run just for the boys, no girls allowed. It needs to be big enough for the number of chickens so don't squeeze them. Some people say their bachelor pad needs to be out of sight of the girls But I haven't had to do that. We are all different.

 

[3KillerBs]

Oh thank you for the info! I guess maybe we need to rethink our coop and run situation..we are in the process of building it now. We were going to have an 8x10 coop (converted shed) and a 17 x 6 ft run but sounds like that’s too small for 20 chickens. Both will be tall so is there anyway to utilize the overhead space?

I'm afraid not. While you can, and should, put some structure and roosts into your run (See this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/), chickens don't stack for storage.

Chickens are creatures of the forest floor. They roost in high places for safety, but their main activity takes place on the ground so space on the ground is what you need.

Additionally, even if you didn't have behavioral problems with keeping 20 chickens in a run sized for 10, you would have sanitation problems. The more ground you can give them in the run the less trouble you have with odor, flies, and even disease.

You might look into electric poultry netting. I have the 100-foot, 48", solar kit from Premier 1 and it couldn't be easier to use -- though solar does have a few drawbacks I can explain if you want to know.

That 100 feet of netting gives enough run space for 25 birds -- at least in theory. I credit my hugely over-sized run for my ability to keep 5 hens in a coop meant for 4 and for the smooth integration of 4 chicks this past month.

 

[Cluckatar]

I know it's really hard to let go of roosters you have hatched or raised. I have a few we are mulling over right now. I would encourage you to make outdoor free ranging space for them if possible.

We have high predator pressure here as well, but we range ours out into a larger field area during the day, secure coop at night. Our fencing is portable but not electric. We haven't lost a bird yet (18 months on this property), but we have two large and noisy dogs frequently in the field or in the adjacent yard, keeping patrol. And I credit my cuckoo marans rooster with doing a LOT of work keeping an eye on possible problems. At least once a day he calls all the hens back to the portable coops to take cover and stands between them puffing up and crowing. Sometimes it's a scruffy cat that doesn't know it can't catch a chicken, but often it is a circling eagle. So that is the up side of a rooster in the flock.

On the down side, this rooster grew up best friends with a snowy easter egger rooster. He was always the clear dominant one. This spring the snowy roo decided he wanted to challenge and he went after the marans rooster relentlessly and would not stop. It was a blood bath and very scary. I did a quick re-purpose of one coop to separate out the snowy, calmed him down with blueberries as treats for a week, and found him a new home. I'm still dealing with the fallout on the marans rooster, comb won't quite heal, hens pecking at the scabs, etc.

So it's a mixed bag. You just need to find your tolerance level for the challenges Best of luck, and let us know how it's going.

 

[Dvalland]

Just how tall is tall, in feet?
The tall in the coop is good for ventilation.
Tall in the run is good for the keeper to work in there without ducking or banging the noggin.

Here's my thoughts on heights:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

Oh, and.... Welcome to BYC! @Dvalland
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 2697988

Updated location.. Thank you!

 

[Dvalland]

Thank you all for the information! Since we are in the process of building the run we were able to add some extra space and make it 10 x 20 so we will have 10 sq ft for 20 chickens (I have 22 but seems like I may need to get rid of some roosters). Is it possible to let just some free range and then lock them all in the same coop at night? I have a loft in my coop that I will be using for storage, but am also going to set it up as a quarantine space if need be so I can separate anyone if there are issues.

 

[Iowajones]

Oh thank you for the info! I guess maybe we need to rethink our coop and run situation..we are in the process of building it now. We were going to have an 8x10 coop (converted shed) and a 17 x 6 ft run but sounds like that’s too small for 20 chickens. Both will be tall so is there anyway to utilize the overhead space?

I have 20 x 20 run .. yard for 7 but an 8 x 12 winter coop. That's my limiting factor. I use 8 x 8 of the coop for winter and it's small. They do go outside but.. -20, Not much they stay roosting. Could you put in a loft, doubling your space. In the winter just let them stay in the loft or ground level.