Rooster/Hen ratio

[farmgirl1995]

I'm not sure if this is in the right place but oh well. I have way more roosters than I realized. In a flock of 25 theres at least 12 of them. The roosters have suddenly started mating with the hens today. I'm gonna get more hens but I'd have to wait a while till they got big enough to put in there with the others. I cant buy started pullets because I don't have enough money. Any ideas? My poor hens

 

[chicmom]

Oh my, a good ratio would be 9 hens per rooster. Could you possibly split them and keep the roos separate from the hens? Your poor ladies will be abused for sure with that many! Or you could count how many you have, and offer them for sale on Craigslist, or better yet, for free. Somebody will take them very quickly for sure.

Good luck!
Sharon

 

[Lbrad7]

I think the ratio could even be as high as 12-15 hens to roo. I think you have way too many..time to send a few to freezer camp or rehome them. If not, your girls are going to be miserable. Your coop is going to look like that HBO show Cathouse!

 

[farmgirl1995]

I think I'm just gonna have to separate them. Poor things. I feel so bad

 

[teach1rusl]

Yes, find some way to separate them, or you'll not only have torn up, stressed out pullets/hens, but you'll have lots of roosters fighting too, which can get really ugly...

Offer the roosters free on CL, process them, or separate them.

 

[farmgirl1995]

I did separate them. I rotated out a rooster every couple of hours to free range. Now they're all sleepin

 

[Cowgirl71]

A ratio of 1:8 roosters to hens is the MINIMUM. The perfect ratio in my experience for a free-ranged flock is about 1:15.

I got my first chickens in spring 2009. I got 25 RIR and BO pullets and 40 RIR and BR roosters for freezer camp. As you can imagine, it was awful. I later found out that RIR roosters are well known for their very high sex-drive compared to other breeds, and BOs are very mild mannered. Four of my hens were literally raped to death before we got all the roosters butchered.

Now I keep the extra roosters separate from the hens until they're fat enough to send to freezer camp. At least my hens are happy.

 

[cletus the rooster]

i have heard on here 1 roo to 4 hens if you are concerned about egg fertility

 

[flgardengirl]

Make a bachelor pen.

 

[sourland]

Get rid of 11 roosters.