ratio roosters to hens in backyard flock

[MPulixi]

HI All,

We just lost our young cockerel, and we are looking to replace him. My kids are asking if it would be problematic to get two roosters for our 26 hens. We are planning on getting one Buff Orpington roo and one Black copper Maran. LEt us know your thoughts. We will get them as cockerels....

Thanks

 

[loanwizard]

Roo ratio is roughly 1 to 10. You could actually get 3 if you want all your eggs to be fertile.

 

[MPulixi]

Thank you! What exactly is the benefit of eating fertilized egg?s

 

[gryeyes]

None. There's no difference in taste or nutrition, when only using eggs to eat. However, if you want your flock to increase naturally, you need those fertilized eggs. (Youll also need at least one hen to go broody unless YOU use an incubator to hatch the fertile eggs.)

Two roosters will be fine; that way you have a dominant rooster and his second-in-command. Plus, if you lose one, you'll still have one in the flock. 26 hens is a lot for one rooster to protect.

Three roosters would be fine, too. Any more than that your hens might get over-mated, which can stress them out and damage the feathers on their backs.

 

[TennesseeChicken]

I have 44 hens and had 5 roosters. I had noticed that some of my hens were losing feathers on their backs but weren't molting. Came to this site to research it and found out that some roos are really rough with the hens and can cause the feather loss. (Thanks!) My 'Killer' roo started attacking me, so he went into the crock-pot. Pretty tasty, too!

Shortly after getting rid of Killer, feathers started growing back! So, I 'killed two birds with one stone', pardon the pun, which was very lucky! Now the ladies are looking beautiful again and I can't wait for the first one to go broody! I'm ready for some more baby chicks!