Ratio of Hens to Roosters- Should I add more hens?

[paradisepentacoop]

Good day all,
As some of you may have seen in the past, I am looking to offload at least two of the four Sebright roosters I have to better balance with the three hens.
With a 2 to 3 ratio, I still think that there will be some issue. The reason I want to keep two is the feather coloring and temperament. The hens are a Silver Sebright (1) and Black Australorp (2). With the size difference too, I think the little Sebright hen will get the brunt of the roosters attention, as the Australorps tower over the bantams already.

SO-
Should I look for more hens? Should I consider older hens? Get new little chicks and introduce them once they are 6 weeks? There are so many variables, I understand. Should I just leave it be and see what happens?

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

Get chicks.

 

[Mrs. K]

This is a personal decision. Personally, I would not keep any of the roosters with 3 hens. If this is your first year, I strongly recommend letting the roosters go. Most inexperienced people do not recognize signs of aggression, and attacks come out of no where. And most inexperienced people vastly underestimate the violence of a rooster attack.

Roosters do not comprehend the idea of waiting. Adding chicks will do nothing for rooster behavior for months.

Adding more adult birds, might help, however, it depends on the space of your coop and run. Do not think that a couple hours outside a day can make up for too small of a set up. It won't. I would only keep 2 roosters if I had a flock of 20+ birds, a coop that was at least 8 x 10 feet, and a run of 30 x 50. I like space for my birds and my run is larger that often posted here.

I may be making assumptions - but sometimes people buy prefab coups that say they can hold 6 birds. But they cannot. Roosters take more room than hens, and multiple roosters take A LOT more room.

It can be so hard, rooster chicks are such darlings, and one gets attached to them, but often times cockerel change dramatically in behavior, and once the darling is gone, the nightmare begins. Most of us have kept a rotten one too long.

Mrs K
ps - I see you are in Hawaii, which might not translate to how I raise chickens in SD. Take my advice with a pinch of salt.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Here is another of your threads where this was discussed.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-rooster-to-keep-do-i-need-to-choose.1619442/

I personally don't put a lot of faith in any boy-girl ratios. Each chicken has its own personality, we all have different coop-run set-ups, and we use different management techniques. A 2 to 3 ratio will work for some, for many it will not. While 130 square feet sounds like a lot for 5 tiny Sebrights, if one is standing in the middle of that dome another doesn't have a lot of room to get far away. Your perches will help with that.

My suggestion is to first determine your goals. From your other thread I think you have decided to keep 2 boys and at least 3 girls. I do not recommend adding any more girls. It is unlikely to help and it just adds integration to your issues or potential issues.

So how do you try to make it work? I'd let them go now and see what happens. Have a way to isolate one or both of the boys from the girls quickly if you need to. Or from each other if the boys are fighting each other. Go by what you see and try to have enough flexibility to react quickly.

 

[CharlesnBlue]

was going to buy 7 hens and two roosters to add to
the 3 hens I have
after reading this thread i think i will just get one rooster

 

[MROO]

Good day all,
As some of you may have seen in the past, I am looking to offload at least two of the four Sebright roosters I have to better balance with the three hens.
With a 2 to 3 ratio, I still think that there will be some issue. The reason I want to keep two is the feather coloring and temperament. The hens are a Silver Sebright (1) and Black Australorp (2). With the size difference too, I think the little Sebright hen will get the brunt of the roosters attention, as the Australorps tower over the bantams already.

SO-
Should I look for more hens? Should I consider older hens? Get new little chicks and introduce them once they are 6 weeks? There are so many variables, I understand. Should I just leave it be and see what happens?

Y'know, there's a universal (chicken-) mathematical answer. The answer is ALWAYS to "get more hens."

 

[paradisepentacoop]

Y'know, there's a universal (chicken-) mathematical answer. The answer is ALWAYS to "get more hens."

Yuuuppppppppp- the math hit today. Rehomed the two roosters and got three new week old hens. Pepper the Cuckoo Maran, Rosemary and Thyme the Olive Eggers.