Roosters and Hens Question.. Behavior.

[new2thischick]

So.. a little bit of info. We are new to raising chickens, my daughters kindergarten class hatched eggs for science. A friend of ours gave her class 9 fertilized eggs and a neighbor gave 3. In June we had 9 chicks come home with us. Eight of which were from the friend, half Buff Orpington, half White Crested Black Polish. One of the three from the neighbor a Rhoade Island Red. Turns out we ended up with 5 roosters and 4 hens all 5 roosters came from the half and half breed.

Long story short 2 of the roosters have just now started crowing in the past couple weeks. These two particular roosters are also mounting the hens. The Hens scream as though they are being raped and it is a devastating sound that makes me go running outside to see if they are being eaten.

Anyhow.. my questions: First approximately when will my hens start laying, I have three of the half and half and one red? Second does the roosters mounting the hens make a difference when they will lay? Third we plan on keeping two of the roosters, is this a good idea? We are going to hatch a few chicks in hopes of getting more hens.

 

[CocoTeal]

Well... you really only need 1 rooster... it's just not good to have that many with how little hens you have!! I know it may be hard to get rid of them, but for the best and happiest hens, it's the way to go. They may eventually end up killing each other otherwise. They will end up in a war of dominating and then the hens may be mounted too often and bothered and become unmanageable in my opinion. And generally you only need 1 rooster per flock. Trust my your hens will be so much happier with one rooster! (Unless you want to increase your flock by multiple dozens...)

Best of luck!

 

[scarletbaby]

Im not sure when your girls will lay but I do know that the rooster mounting the hens wont make them lay any faster in fact it might make them more stressed. Keeping two roosters means they might crow more. Thats pretty much what i know from reading the forums, hope it helps

 

[bburn]

Whoa....what a mix. Those are some evil looking roosters! Must have been the crested polish thing......

 

[new2thischick]

Hey all..

It is the animal lover inside me.. but you are right one rooster I will keep .. I call him Slick because his crest is literally slicked back and he and our Rhode Island Red (Goldie) seem to be really fond of each other.
The fact that the hens being mounted to much might stress the out really didn't occur to me. Thank you so much for your input. I am sure I will have many more questions as time goes on.

So when can roosters be used for meat I have a couple people that are willing to take them off my hands.. We personally aren't meat eaters, but know that eggs are full of mineral, vitamins, and protein.
I read 9 months they are barely 5 months now.. Can they be eaten now or do we need to wait. I will be sad to see the go.. but know it is for the best.

 

[Tropical Chook]

For what it's worth........................The ideal ratio seems to be one rooster for every ten to twelve hens. With only a few hens, your roosters will simply be too much, and besides, with all that crowing, you're likely to loose your mind

When will your girls start laying? Well, I have read on here that the roosters will usually start mounting them approximately two weeks before they're due to start laying. Like I say though, this is just what I've read.

Can you eat the roosters yet? Most definitely. You say they are five months old, so that's just over 20 weeks........delicious I have one the same age, and he will be supper, either today or tomorrow. I also have five others, but as they're only four months old, they'll be around for a little while yet.

Good luck

 

[new2thischick]

Just found out the local feed store takes roosters. Apparently people come in asking for roosters.. Only one of the five will be dinner.. One is going to a good home, where he was created, we are keeping one and the other two going to the feed store.. I love how it all just fell into place. Now we are going to wait for the hens to produce and hopefully we get some chicks out of the deal.. But I am concerned, the hens and rooster are brother and sister.. so would it be ok to hatch chicks from their batch...???

 

[Tropical Chook]

From what I have read, it will be fine to hatch eggs from a brother and sister pair, but you will at some point have to introduce new blood into your flock. I don't know how important this is however if you only want eggs and meat from your birds. I'm sure someone on here will be able to give you more info.

 

[bburn]

You really were lucky in how it fell together. It was not that easy for me but I have finally gotten down to a managible amount of roosters! Wish our feed store here would take them and rehome them!

 

[new2thischick]

We will probably only hatch a few chicks in hopes of some more hens for the eggs.. if we don't get to many more hens we are definitely going to invest in some pure Buff Orpingtons. Thanks for the info..

@bburn.. I thanked the person this morning who gave me that information.. I know of people who have just released their roosters out in the woods.. They either survive or become food for the wild animals.. I personally am very thankful they will be given to homes. Good luck on the roosters..