Roosters affecting egg production??

[Souperchicken]

I heard from 2 different people today that having a rooster with hens makes them produce less eggs. Is this true?

 

[wombat]

I would say only if the roosters are so busy mating hens that the hens are becoming stressed. Depends on your rooster to hen ratio, how agressive your roos are, and how accomodating your hens are.

If you've got a good roo to hen ratio and a good rooster, it should not take your production down.

 

[Souperchicken]

Thanks for the info! Right now I have 7 hens with one rooster in one of our pens. Is that a good ratio?

 

[wombat]

Generally people suggest 10:1, but I wouldn't necesarily go out and get three more hens just because of that. Though it's as good an excuse as any ...

If the rooster is not stressing the hens, and leaving them bald on the back and such, you're probably ok. It really comes down to how agressive the roo is about mating, and whether he's stressing the hens.

 

[Souperchicken]

Two of the hens have bald backs and the others seemed untouched. So that could mean my hens are stressed... That is good to know- I'm thinking about getting rid of this rooster anyway. He's a pretty cool rooster(rarely crows, not aggressive with anything) but I think he has low fertility, which defeats the whole purpose of having him. Thanks again for the info.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I agree with this. My roo has never affected my egg production to my knowledge. I have 13 hens to one roo.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Even if you had an enormous number of hens per roo you can still end up with one or a few barebacked, because roos sometimes have "favorites" that get, uh, extra mileage

OTOH just because a hen hs the feathers worn off her does not necessarily mean she is stressed - my sussex roo has his Special Little Exotic Girlfriend, a campine hen, who is probably missing about as many feathers as she has (I am really close to deciding to sew her a saddle and probably will do it soon) but still cranks out almost an egg a day, given sufficient extra protein to support both egg production and feather growth.

So, "it depends"

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[mener6896]

I've heard the opposite, that a roo will increase egg production. That the hens get "lazy" without a roo and that having a roo around will make the girls try to impress him.

anyone heard this?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I know my girls fight over who gets to sleep closest to my roo at night. I swear my coop at roost time seems more like a high school girl's locker room.