rooster to hen ratio

[humpty2dumpty]

What should be the rooster to hen ratio? how many hens can a rooster fertilize in one day? i plan to have 200 hens. how many roosters should i have for 200 girls?

 

[quailboy 73]

Im not really sure but i know the ratio for bobwhite quail is 2:1. If i was to guess, i would say 10:1. If not that there going be to some tired rooster

 

[dawg53]

Quailboy 73 is correct. It's normally recommended 1 roo per 10 hens. I guess in theory, a rooster could fertilize all the hens in one day. But sometimes, maybe even most of the time it doesnt work that way lol.

 

[humpty2dumpty]

So that means I should divide them up into flocks of 11 chickens? each flock having 10 hens and 1 rooster? I've observed that when roosters grow up, one of them is like the chief of the whole tribe and rest of them aren't even allowed to stand by the girls, let alone mating! Suggestions?

 

[GAchick]

Could one rooster actually 'police' that many girls w/o stressing himself to death? Not even mentioning attempting to breed. I would think many 'second string' roos would have small groups of their own...

 

[dawg53]

I dont have any experience with large flocks. The most I've had at one time were only 17 hens and 1 rooster. The rooster had his favorites, which were at the most 4 or 5 hens. I had to purchase chicken saddles to protect his favorites. The rest of the hens mostly avoided the rooster, but on a rare occasion the rooster managed to mate with one of the others. I avoided having a second rooster for obvious reasons, but that's up to the individual owner on how many roosters or hens they want.

 

[mistymeadowchicks]

I have a flock w/ 2 roosters & 18 hens that free range. These roosters were raised together, but Strut is definitely the apha roo and L'il Man stays out of his way. There may be some minimal chasing, but has never been an all-out fight that I've either seen or seen results of. The entire flock is often together, with the 2 boys facing opposite directions & standing guard, while the girls peck & scratch. The irony of it is, when the group separates, Strut has the 5 original hens in "his flock", L'il Man has the other 13 w/ a lot of swapping back & forth. (Guess Romeo wins over Head Honcho, huh!) I have read on this site that raising the roos together makes a huge difference. Just my 2 cents & good luck in your endeavors.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I have a large flock (150 chickens) and my ratio is 1 rooster for 10 hens, so I have 15 roosters. In 2010, my girls hatched A LOT of roosters. I had a total of 45 roosters that I had to sell or send them to freezer camp. They were stressing my girls out, so they had to go! Although I try to make sure that I don't have too many roosters, my roosters still single out a few of their "favorite" hens. Right now, I have a hen that has been removed from the flock and is in her own living quarters because they tore her back up. I have ordered the saddles for the hens but the saddles do not stay on.

If I were you, I would have 20 roosters for your 200 hens. That will be my ratio when I get the next 50 chickens. That's just my opinion. Maybe someone with 200 hens will chime in and give their suggestion.

Quick question.......What is your plan for your 200 hens? I don't hear too many people say that they will have that many, so I am curious. Will your hens be used for laying eggs, hatching chicks, etc? I would love to see your setup (coops, chicken houses, etc.) for your 200 hens. I would love to see pics when you get them. I love seeing large flocks. Way cool!

Good luck! You will enjoy all of those chickens.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
You don't have to divide them up into flocks of 11 chickens (unless you want to). That will be a lot of chicken coops and runs. My flock free range on about 1 acre of land, so I don't have many problems with the roosters. With my 15 roosters, all of them think that they are the CHIEF. Each 1 rooster thinks he owns my 135 hens, so anytime another rooster is seen trying to mate (or if a hen sounds out), that rooster will run over and knock the mating rooster off and try to breed with that same hen. They are pathetic.

If they have their own little hen groups, I don't know about. I have too many hens to know who belongs to what Chicken District.

There is really ony 1 chief Rooster in my flock and the reason is because he has been there for the longest and the other roosters know that. They try to push their luck but it doesn't work.

 

[dawg53]

Kuntrygirl, You're right about the chicken saddles not staying on the hens. I ordered large diaper pins off ebay and used them...they worked great and never came off.