Rooster to Hen Ratio?

[seramaman99]

Hi,

I am planning to buy some seramas. Can I keep all the roosters and hens together in 1 coop?

I am planning to breed them also.

Would it be better to keep all my hens together and all my males together? & then when I am ready to breed I would put the rooster I want into the hens coop?

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

awesome! i would recommend if you where going to get two roosters to have a males pen so that they wouldn't all be with the hens, this leads to fighting and over-breeding.

 

[seramaman99]

awesome! i would recommend if you where going to get two roosters to have a males pen so that they wouldn't all be with the hens, this leads to fighting and over-breeding.

All males living together will be okay?

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

yep! as long as there is no females to fight over!

 

[Cyprus]

All males living together will be okay?

Yes. And the recommended breeding ratio for a bantam is 6-8 hens per rooster. But if you are switching of males, 6-8 hens in total should be enough.

 

[seramaman99]

yep! as long as there is no females to fight over!

If I have 10 females and put 1 male in there, would the 1 male try to mate with all 10 females?

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

i think for 10 hens 2 males would be fine.

 

[featheredplanets]

A dominant cockerel of any size will easily cover more than 12 hens a day. If keeping them for breeding, I'd keep the cockerels separate with hens of their own (or together in their own pen when not being used), as males together sometimes results in one cockerel submitting to the more dominant male, the lower male won't usually mate with the hens, he might once or twice when the other male is out of sight, when keeping males together, that doesn't really matter as you can just remove the one you want and put him with the hens. Even for small bantams, I'd stick with no less than six females per male. Not sure about serama specifics but I'd assume this also applies to them

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC @seramaman99 .

The 'rooster' to hen ratio of 1:10 that is often cited is primarily for fertility efficiency in commercial breeding facilities.
It doesn't mean that if a cockbird has 10 hens that he won't abuse or over mate them.
Many breeders keep pairs, trios, quads, etc
It all depends on the temperaments of the cock and hens and sometimes housing provided.
Backyard flocks can achieve good fertility with a larger ratio.

 

[seramaman99]

Thank you all for help.