QUESTIONS...

lisaleedy

Chirping
5 Years
Mar 18, 2014
148
5
98
va
I been told my bunch will have out of seven chicks two hens. Is there big issuse in keeping more than one roo if your free ranging chickens? And is it only worse when they go to roost in coop? Do you think it will cause them to try and seperate from one flock and in protest find othrr places to go? Should i just keep these guys off to themselves till deside what todo with them?
 
Last edited:
As with so many things related to chickens the answer is "it depends". Prtly on roo breed/personality and partly on space. I have qlways seen 1 roo per 5 hens but I think that is more related o getting fertile eggs than roos getting along. Sometimes it is just/an experiament. Roos will fight, the question is how hard and how long and how much can you stand to watch.

I know this isn't very informative but trial and error might be your best teacher. Have fun. It can be quite a ride.
 
I have had many roos with my hens all at one time. At the time I had 30 hens. As long as you have enough space for everyone. Usually one Roo will be come dominant and there will be a Second and the rest will be freeloaders.... The dominant roo will keep the other roos in line. When My flock would be in the yard the roos would take up "watch" in different areas of the yard.

Protecting the flock is their main job. Usually the Bachelors will keep an eye out for their chance to get a lick in now and then.... My main roo would chase em down and pull a few feathers out to remind him of his place....
gig.gif
but knock down drag out fights rarely ever happened.

The only time i would remove a roo would be if he were flogging me or being particularly aggressive with the hens. If you notice your hens loosing feathers or getting bare on the backs of their necks... Time to observe your flock and remove a roo.

And I have no issues with Sending anyone to freezer camp. As long as it is thoughtfully done and quickly. I dont have an opinion one way or the other about how to do it...

ON my coop rebuild i plan to have space for Meaties... and of course I will have to learn how to Process too. Any roos that dont meet breeding standards will probably go in there as well. But I would never leave my self only one roo.

deb
 
Well thats an idea.. extra guards we live on 63 acers but live about two or three aceres from road. We have three accomplished cat hunters even tjoufg fed. We have a total of five dogs one very old crippled one lives inside home and is walked on leash to potty but i have two young very smart ...the breed name slipped my mind.
400

I am not dure how to go about trakning them to leave my birds alone.. right now they dont mess with them in the cage i have outside they lay close and im usualky out watching the birds feeding petting and such but if they were out...
 
Im nervouse about letting them out they seem to easy for the pickings rihht now but need to start working on the free rang thing soon they will out grow the little pen ive set up for them. One other thing i have these seven they are four weeks three days old and in May ill have a whole new batch.. in mail.. any advice detail on when to mix and how..so on?
 
Last edited:
I had 2 EE roosters that grew up together along with 8 hens at the time. The roos got along fine until they reched sexual maturity, then it was a big mess. We ended up killing off the spare rooster because he had become human aggressive and rough with the hens.

I would avoid subjecting the hens to so many roosters. Overbreeding would be a concern..
 
I also have a 3 year old weimaraner. He was introduced to our chicks from day one. He would watch them in the brooder and he'd get a stern NO if he got too excited about them and praised for good behavior. When the chicks were out playing in the yard, I had the dog with me lying on the ground with the chicks. I had him by the collar and the chicks were never left un attended in his presence. Its daily training. The dogs will have to learn to let them be. You can't punish or scould them after the fact for natural behavior. Dogs are hunters. My chicken follow my dog around the yard now and are not phased by him at all.

As far as integrating new chickens into the flock. I use the playpen method for a few weeks where they can see each other without the threat of injury. There will be quarrels to reestablish the pecking order but as long as they are not causing injury they should be fine
 
become human aggressive and rough with the hens.

I would avoid subjecting the hens to so many roosters. Overbreeding would be a concern..[/quote]

Huum another good point. Might mess with steady egg laying how about the broodyness of hins when have rooster mating vs no roostets?
 
I was told i could tie a dead chicken around their coller and leave it till they stop trying to take it off one dude said a week. But i dont want to easte a chicken and would like to prevent such things though. Maybr if i try your method of one chick introduction one dog at a time or have my hubby and daughter hold them while i hold the chicken? geeee long week ahead!!
 
My thought was so many roosters would injur the hens from overbreeding. I would separate the roosters but 1 for every 8-12 I think is the standard ratio.. less than that would cause overbreeding and more than that would be hard for one rooster to handle.
I have not yet experienced a broody hen. Mine are under 2 years old. I was hoping to be able to let my hens hatch their own chicks this year but that isnt looking promising so far.. anyway I can't manage to leave the feed store without bringing some home. I swear my husband is going to have me banned from the store
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom