Rooster with three hens?

[Greystone farm]

Hi! I have three three year old Rhode Island Red hens and I recently fell in love with a rooster that was free to take home at a fair. I’m wondering if it would be bad for my hens to bring home the rooster since I only have three and he is much younger than them. He’s a very gentle and big Isa Brown rooster who was born in may. Thanks for any help!

 

[ChickenWhisperer101]

You can only keep 1 rooster with 3 hens. For 2 roosters you would need 15-20 hens at the minimum.

 

[Greystone farm]

You can only keep 1 rooster with 3 hens. For 2 roosters you would need 15-20 hens at the minimum.

Yes, that was what I was thinking. He would be my only rooster, so do you think that ratio would work?

 

[ChickenWhisperer101]

Yes, that was what I was thinking. He would be my only rooster, so do you think that ratio would work?

Oh, haha, sorry, I misunderstood your question. I thought you already had a rooster and you were wanting to get another one. You should be okay as long as he’s not aggressive, but you might want to think about adding more hens in the future if you can.

 

[Greystone farm]

Oh, haha, sorry, I misunderstood your question. I thought you already had a rooster and you were wanting to get another one. You should be okay as long as he’s not aggressive, but you might want to think about adding more hens in the future if you can.

Okay, thanks!

 

[NatJ]

I’m wondering if it would be bad for my hens to bring home the rooster since I only have three and he is much younger than them.

It will depend on the rooster. He may be fine, or he may want to mate so often that they become stressed.

If he does seem to pester the hens too much, you could build him a pen next to the hens, so they can still see each other and interact through wire fencing, and he could spend part of his time there to give the hens a break. (He might spend part of each day separate, or several days each week, or any other arrangement that ends up working for you and for them.)

 

[Bryce Thomas]

I had 1 rooster and 2 hens for a year and they got along just fine, if you only have 1 rooster and 3 hens it will be fine too but if you have 2 roosters you want to aim for at least 7 hens per rooster

 

[JacinLarkwell]

It could work, or he could be too much for them. I have a pair that works most of the time, and have like 12(+/-) females (including young pullets) with 3 males. It's all individuals, and that's what you have to remember.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Like they said the ratio might work or it might not. But at 5 months old he is not a rooster, he is still a cockerel. It's possible things will work out fine with those three mature hens. His hormones may still be so much in control that he terrorizes them. That's not necessarily because of ratio but because of his hormones. Or they may beat the stuffings out of him, mature hens will sometimes do that to an immature cockerel.

When he actually matures into a mature rooster these problems should go away if they do show up. You may or may not need to isolate him for a while. Good luck!

 

[Sally PB]

As everyone said, it might work, or it might not. I had a cockerel with three pullets, until they all were a year old, then it was a roo and three hens. It worked out well. I got three more pullet chicks this last spring to give him more girls, and me more eggs, eventually.