Roosters...how many is too many?

[BigBlueHen53]

How many roosters are too many? One, if he stresses your hens. It's not about numbers. It's about behavior. Read your hrns and see what they say.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

How many roosters are too many? One, if he stresses your hens. It's not about numbers. It's about behavior. Read your hrns and see what they say.

Yes, they will pick favorites too－the ones they find the most attractive, who are usually the ones with the biggest combs and the ones who lay the most eggs. They have personal preference too. My Cochin Bantam rooster prefers black hens and my mixed breed cockerel likes hens who have speckled feathers.

 

[Squawkers]

Dominant females are the ones who mostly do this, as submitting will make them appear weak to the other females of the flock. I have an elderly California Gray hen who is dominant but also surprisingly peaceful at the same time. At least when it comes to new chicks and other females. But not to males. If any male dances at her, or tries to mate her, she will whack them in the head and beat them up. One time, my Polish cockerel had found her in a corner of a cage (why do chickens act like opened cages are totally new lands to free-range in? LOL) and came up behind her, stepping on her back to mount her. But she whipped around, grabbed him by his neck, and banged his head into the side of the cage.

Yes! I had a Rode Island Red hen who was ALWAYS on the top. She saw many new chickens come and go and there was never any discussion about her place. When my silkie roo made the mistake of simply getting in her personal space she grabbed his hackles and repeatedly banged his head on the ground. And she wasn’t just banging, every time she did it she would jump into the air and throw her whole body weight into him. He NEVER got anywhere near her ever again

 

[McChooky]

Always have a backup plan.Always!

Well, no, 4 roosters will more than likely not be ok. It is always so hard to believe, because nothing is as darling as rooster chicks. But if you do some research on this site, you will find countless posts where the darlings become the nightmares.

If this is your first year, I strongly recommend not keeping any. Roosters take some experience. Often times people do not recognize signs of aggression, until the attack. If you have children under the age of 6-7, these kids can take the attack in the face, and a rooster can knock them down. Rooster are opportunists, and tend to attack children first.

Not all roosters are aggressive, but a lot of them are. Especially if raised in a flock mate group without an older generation as in years, not months to be with them. Even then, they can be aggressive. It is really the luck of the draw.

I have a large set up with a 600 square foot run and 48 square foot coop, and a dozen +/- flock. I keep one rooster, I have kept two in this set up short term, but when I let one go, the relief in tension in the flock was surprising. I would not keep 4 roosters unless I had a flock of over 60.

The problem with hatching chicks, which I do, is that the rooster problem keeps getting compounded. Half the chicks you hatch will be roosters. What are you going to do?

This is why a lot of people only buy pullet chicks to add to their flocks, so they don't have to deal with extra roosters. If you can't, and a lot of people cannot cull birds, don't hatch.

The idea that you can get enough hens for roosters to all get along, and that they will wait, until you can get the hens is not going to work. Rooster really do not understand the idea of sharing. People with a lot of roosters almost alway have huge flocks, and huge pastures to let them run in. They lose birds to predators, but they can live with it.

What to do now, though? Find some other people in your area that are chicken people. They can help. We have all been where you are now, and truly understand how hard it can be. But roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people. Post roosters for free, and don't ask any questions.

Mrs K

I've never hatched my own chicks but I added a rooster.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Yes! I had a Rode Island Red hen who was ALWAYS on the top. She saw many new chickens come and go and there was never any discussion about her place. When my silkie roo made the mistake of simply getting in her personal space she grabbed his hackles and repeatedly banged his head on the ground. And she wasn’t just banging, every time she did it she would jump into the air and throw her whole body weight into him. He NEVER got anywhere near her ever again

Mercy sakes! Poor little guy! Is this what is meant by "hen-pecked"? Was he ever able to do his job after that ... or did you have to re-home the poor traumatized fella?

 

[Squawkers]

Mercy sakes! Poor little guy! Is this what is meant by "hen-pecked"? Was he ever able to do his job after that ... or did you have to re-home the poor traumatized fella?

We had to re-home him because he attacked people, but i do think he went to his new home pretty traumatized

 

[cundare]

One thing to remember is that every case is detail-dependent. There are general rules of thumb -- some of which are quite good in most cases -- but exceptions abound. Every bird owner has to feel his or her own way, to some extent.

For example, we have about 20 birds, almost half of which are roosters. Very complex social interactions. One roo wants to be boss, but the true alpha, who would kick his tail, is locked in a large coop. T he two snarl at each other whenever they get near.

Then we have Snowball, a guy who has been abused all his life (a rescue bird), with only one good eye. He's terrified of the other birds and stays in a tree most of the time. He has a special feeding area on a raised platform, where he can eat in comparative safety. He rarely comes down onto the ground, though, mostly only when no other birds are around. It's sad, but we give him whatever quality of life we can, and he's physically healthy.

My favorites are two identical brothers -- "The Bros" -- who grew up together in a flock of two males & two females and are like a couple of frat buddies. They do everything together, don't fight or compete, and are both exceptionally good-natured. They almost never fight with other males or pick on smaller birds. Two big mixed-breed roosters that make excellent pets.

So every flock is different because every bird is different. We have maybe 7 males (some are still young) and a dozen females and despite the usual competitive behavior, they all get along.

Other people may find that similar gender mixtures result in lots of nasty encounters & even bloodshed. But I wonder if the way the birds interact has anything to do with what they learn from the way that the "alphas" (us!) act toward the birds. We scold any bird that attacks a smaller one, even though that's part of their nature. I wonder if they eventually realize -- and this is especially true of the birds we raised from chicks -- just what kind of behavior is acceptable to their human overlords, and adjust accordingly.

 

[Vicker]

It depends on how they get along and how hard they mate the hens. But one of my main considerations is the cost of feeding birds that aren't paying me back with eggs.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

I wonder if they eventually realize -- and this is especially true of the birds we raised from chicks -- just what kind of behavior is acceptable to their human overlords, and adjust accordingly.

A male who over-mates females does not have a care in the world about what a human thinks. He is going to do it no matter what he sees happening. I have had many males that over-breed, and I have tried reprimanding them, but nothing is going to stop them. Their hormones are raging and their mind is crazed.

 

[FiveMileCreek]

@Ridgerunner at what age is a rooster too old to breed effectively? I have a wonderful rooster whose hens love him and I think the world of him. He's at least 3 years old, possibly 4. I have 20 hens and I have no idea how sexually active he is. If I wanted to hatch eggs, should I think about replacing him?

I have a 5 year old rooster and he services 8 girls. I incubate his eggs, and out of 40 eggs, I may have 3 or 4 eggs not fertilized. He is a leasurely breeder too, so he doesn't over breed and is a gentlemen.